By Brezh Malaba
THE massive burden of compensating dispossessed white farmers is weighing heavily on the Zimbabwean government, with the authorities revealing that the broke government on 24 March 2025 paid out US$3.1 million to the first batch of 378 processed farms.
Under a Global Compensation Deed (GCD) signed in 2019, former commercial farmers who were affected by the fast-track land redistribution programme at the turn of the millennium are entitled to payments totalling US$3.5 billion.
As detailed information on the compensation deal becomes available for the first time, the sheer magnitude of the onerous task has been laid bare.
Finite resource…Land is at the heart of long-standing economic and political dynamics in Zimbabwe.
The government is currently struggling to service a US$21 billion public debt which has plunged the country into crisis. Shelling out huge amounts to the ex-farmers is bringing untold strain on already troubled coffers.
This first payment of US$3.1 million is only 1% of the initial compensation claim value of US$311 million.
The task of compensating the farmers is ultimately the responsibility of Zimbabwean taxpayers who will feel the squeeze for years.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube says last week the government also issued Treasury bonds related to the first batch of farmers to their custodian bank.
How payments are structured
In line with the GCD agreement, the former farm owners receive 1% of their claim in cash, with the balance being paid through US dollar-denominated Treasury bonds with a 2% coupon and maturities of 2 to 10 years. The government says these bonds have the following features: liquid asset status, prescribed asset status, tax exemption, tradable and transferable.
In the 2025 National Budget, the government allocated US$10 million to the compensation of former farm owners under the GCD.
Massive burden
This is not the only agriculture-related debt. Apart from the multi-billion-dollar Global Compensation Deed, hundreds of millions of dollars will go towards compensating European farmers whose land was expropriated in violation of Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (Bippas).
Under the GCD deal, farmers are only compensated for improvemnts on the land and not the land itself. But under the Bippa deal, farmers must be compensated for both land and improvements.
In February 2025, the government concluded the disbursement of an initial US$20 million towards compensation of Bippa-protected
investors whose farms were affected by the 2000 land reform programme.
The debt burden is making it increasingly difficult for the Zimbabwean government to channel resources to such critical sectors as health and education. Many citizens — arguing from an African liberation ethos standpoint — are accusing the Zanu PF government of selling out and losing the moral high ground by buckling to Western pressure to compensate the farmers. They note that, after all, the British and United States governments have reneged on their Lancaster House obligations to contribute funding for the compensation of white farmers.
Hard-pressed to honour its compensation agreement, the Zimbabwean government says it will do everything possible to pay the dispossessed farmers.
The authorities in Harare say they view the compensation of former farm owners as “another significant milestone in the country’s Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution Process”. The process is currently facilitated by former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano and championed by African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina (pictured with President Emmerson Mnangagwa below).
Ncube (pictured below) has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to continue implementing reforms that are key to clearing the country’s arrears and resolving the debt burden.
“The payments will continue. We are very serious about this. By setling our arrears, we can tap into the long-term capital, which is essential for infrastructure development and
other significant investments. This is not just crucial for the Zimbabwean government; it also impacts our private sector, which faces restrictions from creditors due to these arrears. Lifting these caps willfacilitate access to foreign capital, making it easier to obtain financing to support our industries and create meaningful jobs for our citizens,” he said.
What are the farmers saying?
The chairperson of the Compensation Steering Committee and past president of the Commercial Farmers’ Union, Andrew J. Pascoe, confirmed receipt of the first payments, describing the development as “another momentous event”.
“Monday 24 March 2025 saw the first US dollar cash payments due under this plan being paid to the signed up former farm owners,” he said.
Pascoe added: “On 29 July 2020, at State House when I signed the GCD on behalf of FFOs [former farm owners], I highlighted the enormity of the achievement that it was. After almost 20 years, we as Zimbabweans had been able to put aside our differences and, in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust, negotiated an agreement that laid the foundation for the payment of compensation for improvements on farms which had been acquired by the Government of Zimbabwe under the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme.”
Please also read: https://foodforthought.co.zw/zimbabwes-land-revolution-takes-new-turn-will-title-deeds-rescue-or-sink-agriculture/
https://foodforthought.co.zw/cyclone-trump-sweeps-towards-africa/
https://foodforthought.co.zw/command-agriculture-changed-name-but-taxpayers-continue-inheriting-debt/
