Zimbabwe stops farm acquisitions

Deutsche Welle, 2 January 2013

The laws that allow the Zimbabwean government to acquire and redistribute farm land have been put on hold, Zimbabwe's Lands Land Reforms Ministry announces.

Zimbabwe's Lands Land Reforms and Resettlement Minister Herbert Murerwa announced that the laws that allow the government to acquire farm lands for re-distribution purposes have been put on hold. Lands Land Reforms Minister's decision came as a result of court lawsuits from foreign farm owners.

Zimbabwe had signed a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) with European nations including Germany, Malaysia, and Switzerland. BIPPA stipulates that for every piece of land the government seizes, it must pay compensation to the satisfaction of the farmer.

Zimbabwean debts

Failing to meet the agreement forced 40 Dutch farmers to successfully sue the Zimbabwean government to the International Court for Settlement of Investment Disputes at a fee of US$25 million.

Minister Murerwa told DW that his "government has taken the decision not to settle persons on farms covered by BIPPA for now.” But how the government intends to settle its debts with the Dutch farmers is yet unknown.

Black farmers in Zimbabwe find maintaining newly acclaimed farm
lands difficult.

Further litigation threats

More white farmers are threatening to file lawsuits if Harare does not change its land reforms program. Robert Mugabe's government is facing further litigations from white farmers whose lands were seized and not properly compensated.

A German farmer Heinrich von Pezold has a pending case against the government at the Washington DC based investment dispute court after Harare interrupted operations at his farm. It remains unclear however, whether this new move will be convincing enough to make von Pezold to withdraw his case.

No surprises

Pedzisai Ruhanya is a Media and democracy doctorate Student at the University of West Minster in the United Kingdom. He says it is only a matter of time before Zimbabwean government gives in to international pressure and abolishes its controversial land reforms program. Harare "needs to have talks and negotiations with the international community, the European Union, and even with Washington," he said.

Zimbabwe's agricultural-based economy took a plunge in early 2000 when President Robert Mugabe's government embarked on a chaotic and violent land reform exercise targeting white commercial farmers.