Harare – Zimbabwe’s government began evaluating farms to determine whether their previous owners should be compensated after they were seized by the state, the Commercial Farmers Union said.
“We have been in touch with government officials and we welcome government attempts to address the issue of compensation,” Marc Carrie-Wilson, deputy director of the union, said in an interview on Friday in the capital, Harare. “Government has started to evaluate the farms.”
Zimbabwean Lands Minister Douglas Mombeshora said on March 14 the government is considering ways to rectify the treatment of foreign farmers who were evicted from their land after ignoring international treaties on foreign investment during the seizure campaign.
Zimbabwe began taking over commercial farms in 2000, evicting about 3 500 mainly white farmers, of which some were foreign. About 300 remain in Zimbabwe, according to the union, which represents large-scale agriculture.
“We can’t discuss the amount of money until the evaluation is complete, but we have a database that details all farms in the country, including those farms evacuated by their previous owners,” Carrie-Wilson said.-Bloomberg
