Online Reporter
Zvamaida Murwira
Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT is committed to fully compensating white former commercial farmers within the agreed period while most of them have since started receiving payment, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has said.
In a recent interview, Prof Ncube outlined the framework for the payments, noting that compensation was being processed under two categories: the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) and a separate arrangement for other affected farmers.
“In conformity with the Constitution, the Government agreed to compensate farmers, signed an agreement with them, to compensate them for the land and improvements that they lost,” said Prof Ncube.
He outlined two categories of farmers whose compensation was due.
“There are two categories of farmers, those covered by BIPPA, the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, and then the ordinary farmers who signed a US$3.5 billion compensation arrangement with the Government. For the first category, the BIPPA farmers, who are being compensated for both land and improvements because they brought in their investments after independence, and then obviously they lost all those properties, and we have agreed that we will compensate them for both. So that programme is going well. Last year we paid about US$20 million towards that, and again this year we will pay a similar amount, US$20 million, and by the end we are going to make sure that that is done,” said Prof Ncube.
“So that programme is going very well, and in fact, the agreement is to actually pay it over a four-year period. So we should be able to complete the payment for BIPPA farmers.”
He said with respect to other farmers, the Government was determined to clear the US$3,5 billion within the agreed period.
“Regarding the farmers on the other leg, the US$3.5 billion compensation deed, again, those payments have started, we are servicing the coupon in terms of the bonds, the 10-year bonds, that we issued. So that again is going on, but we did say in that agreement should we find a mechanism to be able to pay faster, we will endeavour to do so, so that we can put that behind us, but that programme is also underway. So on both, we are making a lot of progress,” he said.
Prof Ncube said it was critical to note that farmers falling under BIPPA are entitled to get their money in cash, while others have treasury bills which are being honoured.
“The BIPPA farmers are paid in cash, US$20 million per annum. Then the farmers on the US$3.5 billion Global Compensation bill were paid in treasury bills. But then what we do is we honour the conditions of the treasury bills, which say that we must pay a coupon. A coupon is paid in cash. So they hold their assets in treasury bills, but then they receive in cash, in the form of coupons, then in the end they receive the full settlement after a 10-year period. That’s the arrangement,” said Prof Ncube.
He said it was pleasing to note that the agricultural sector was returning to its glory days with record achievements.
“It’s wonderful that the agricultural sector is performing so well, in wheat production, maize production, in all sectors, horticulture is performing well. So really this is to say that Zimbabwe agriculture is back,” said Prof Ncube.
Zimbabwe embarked on a fast-track land reform programme aimed at correcting historical imbalances, which saw Government redistributing land to the black majority from the white minority, who owned large tracts of land at the expense of indigenous persons.
Th Government has since started issuing title deeds to land holders to ensure security of tenure and help to unlock value from the land.
