Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Debra Matabvu, Harare Bureau
OVER 500 white former farm owners whose land was repossessed during the Land Reform Programme have begun receiving compensation from the Government, marking a significant step towards resolution of legacy disputes stemming from the historic land redistribution drive launched at the turn of the millennium, our Harare Bureau has learnt.
The Government has approved payments to 57 former farmers who owned 94 farms protected under Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (BIPPAs), with nine farmers having signed compensation consent forms last week.
They now await payment by Treasury.
In addition, 444 farms have been cleared for compensation under the Global Compensation Deed (GCD), an agreement between the Government and white former commercial farmers.
The agreement stipulates that farmers will only be compensated for improvements they made on the land, and not for the land itself.
For the 94 BIPPA farms, Treasury has committed to paying a total of US$1,91 million before year-end for the complete settlement of compensation claims for 10 of these farms.
The remaining 84 farms under this category will receive US$215 355 each this year.
The balance of the overall compensation will be paid in instalments over a four-year period up to 2028.
Treasury has also allocated US$331,7 million for the 444 farms cleared under the GCD, with farmers set to receive 1 percent of their total compensation claim in cash this year.
The remaining amount will be paid out over a 10-year period through Treasury bonds, ensuring that the compensation process aligns with the Government’s fiscal capacities.
This year, the Government had appropriated US$20 million for the compensation of BIPPA farmers, while an additional US$35 million had been set aside for GCD farms.
Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube also proposed setting aside an additional US$10 million and US$20 million in the 2025 National Budget for the compensation of GCD and BIPPA farms, respectively.
The compensation of former farm owners is a central plank in Zimbabwe’s arrears clearance and debt resolution programme, which signals the country’s commitment to safeguarding property rights.
This is a critical pillar for engaging with institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank, institutions which view the compensation programme as a key reform milestone that Zimbabwe must achieve to unlock access to concessionary loans, grants and debt relief.
Under the GCD, the Government has agreed to pay US$3,5 billion in compensation to around 3 500 white former commercial farmers.
In a presentation during last week’s High-Level Structured Dialogue Platform on the Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution Process, the Deputy Chief Secretary (Policy Analysis, Coordination and Development Planning) in the Office of the President and Cabinet, and co-chairperson of the initiative’s Land Tenure Reforms Sector Working Group, Mr Willard Manungo, said farmers from six countries that have ratified BIPPAs with Zimbabwe have been cleared for compensation.
The countries are Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Malaysia and former Yugoslavia.
“An advert was placed in the papers on May 26, 2024 for BIPPA farmers to submit their applications for consideration for compensation, resulting in 99 farms’ applications being received after three months,” he said.
“From the Land Compensation Committee meeting held in September 2024 to consider the 99 applications, it was noted that four farms from the 99 had been sold prior to acquisition and were removed from the list.
“One farm that was being contested was also removed from the list until the issues are clarified, leaving 94 farms to be considered for compensation in 2024.
“From the 94 remaining farms, 10 farms will be fully compensated in 2024.
“Compensation consent forms for nine farms have been signed by the farmers and one farmer will be signing their consent form today (Monday last week) as they were not available.
“The consent forms for the nine farms are now with the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion ready for payment of the full compensation claim.”
Compensation consent forms for the 84 farms, he said, have also been sent out to the beneficiary farmers before their claims are verified by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development and sent to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion for payment.
“This should happen this week (last week), before end of November 2024,” he added.
“The total claim to be paid off for the 10 farms is US$1 910 126, whilst each of the 84 farms will get US$215 355 for 2024. The balance will be paid over four years.”
Mr Manungo also said consent forms for 444 GCD farms were sent out last week.
“From the two Land Compensation Committee meetings held, 444 farms for FFOs (former farm owners) have been cleared for payment of compensation,” he continued.
“The consent forms for the FFOs will be sent out this week (last week) and once the farmers have signed and returned the forms, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development will verify and submit to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion for payment of the 1 percent of the claim as cash.
“The balance will be paid through Treasury bonds over a 10-year period.
“Meanwhile, another Compensation Committee meeting will be held before the end of the year to deliberate on an additional 320 GCD farmers’ cases that have since been uploaded on the portal as at November 22, 2024.”
Mr Manungo also said significant progress had been made on land tenure reforms, another key pillar of the arrears clearance and debt resolution programme.
“The African Legal Support Foundation (ALSF) has also been engaged to assist in working on the bankability and transferability of the 99-year lease,” he added.
“An initial meeting was conducted to enable the consultants to appreciate the current land tenure reforms setup and how the 99-year lease is expected to feed into the agriculture sector to make it commercially viable.
“The year 2025 will see the Land Sector Working Group (SWG) fine-tuning the 99-year lease document so that it is acceptable in financial institutions to enable farmers to get loans for commercial viability.
“The Land SWG will also be working on the legal instrument to help in the use of the 99-year lease.”
Presenting the 2025 National Budget on Thursday, Prof Ncube said: “Compensation payments for the approved applications are expected to commence during the last quarter of 2024.
“Treasury has allocated US$10 million in the 2025 National Budget for the compensation of FFOs under the GCD.
“The Compensation Committee in September 2024 approved 94 claims/applications amounting to US$131,3 million from the BIPPAs that were ratified before the 2000 Land Reform Programme.”
