International Zimbabwe: White Farmers in The Former "Breadbasket of Africa" Frustrated as Government Fails to Honor Compensation For Mugabe’s Brutal Land Grab.

[Bagatur]

SA should take notice. hopefully decades of neglect didnt render the land non arable.

 

[Arkain2K]

Zimbabwe's White farmers frustrated as government fails to honour compensation deal​

By Freeman Makopa | Jan. 19, 2024

President Emmerson Mnangagwa meets the leadership of the white farmers after the signing of the Global Compensation Deed in July 2020


The newly elected leader of the union representing white commercial farmers who lost farms under government’s controversial programme to resettle landless blacks says members have become frustrated with Harare’s failure to honour a 2020 compensation deal.

Under the deal, known as the Global Compensation Deed (GCD) signed in July 2020, Zimbabwe agreed to pay a combined US$3,5 billion for improvements made on farms to about 4 500 affected farmers.

Half of the settlement was supposed to be paid out within a year, with the remainder paid over five years.

The agreement was part of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s broad plan to improve Zimbabwe’s relations with the international community, and rebuild an economy he inherited in crisis as he assumed power after the November 2017 coup.

Two weeks ago, Liam Philp was elected president of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), replacing Andrew Pascoe.

“The farmers in general are understandably frustrated with the non-performance on obligations under the GCD,” Philp said.

“What I can tell you is the State was unable to achieve their payment obligations under the GCD.”

Under the deal, farmers ‘in a dire financial position’ were also expected to receive interim relief payments.

“They are destitute and would be keen to get any financial assistance possible from Zimbabwe,” Daniel Tivadar, the CFU’s legal counsel said in a paper submitted to the union in October, which evaluates several issues with regards to the agreed payment framework.

“Interim relief payments” means payments made by Zimbabwe to commercial farmers at their special request and instance, in an amount of ZW$39 756 240.98 and the amounts paid from funds provided in the Appropriation (2019) Act…and in any subsequent Appropriation Act, to be paid by Zimbabwe to the commercial farmers, deductible from the global compensation amount,” he said.

Tivadar said the agreement “provides…(that) the parties wish to acknowledge and record that... Zimbabwe has paid…compensation to certain commercial farmers in United States dollars and interim relief payments to some commercial farmers.”

He said the foreign currency equivalence of relief payments would be calculated at the prevailing interbank rate on the date a farmer receives settlement.

“The Deed records that interim relief payments had been made. It was assumed that further interim relief payments would be made — this is why clause 1.1.10 refers to ‘any subsequent Appropriation Act’. The interim relief payments were made in Zimbabwe dollars. They are then converted into USD at the official rate and this amount is ‘excluded from the amount that would otherwise be paid to those commercial farmers’. Whilst this wording is not as clear as it could be, in my view, what was envisaged is that the USD equivalent of the amount paid to the farmer is deducted from the amount that that farmer is entitled to under the Deed.”

The paper said the Deed did not set out a legal basis for the payment of interim relief to the affected farmers.

It said the compensation Deed did not specify that the settlements had been approved by Parliament.

“There must have been a reason for the payment of interim relief as otherwise it would not have been approved by Parliament. The government accepted that on the farmer’s ‘special request and instance’ such payments can be made. It must, therefore, continue to make those payments.

“The concern relating to the setting out of the interim relief regime in a separate agreement is that, once again, the government may represent that the interim relief regime is actually the settlement mechanism of the debt acknowledged in the Deed,” the paper added.

The Independent reported recently that another legal opinion queried the validity of the GCD.

“In my view, the deed is not compliant with the Constitution as the government assumed an obligation to pay US$3,5 billion without the requisite authorisation being sought from, and granted by, Parliament,” Tivadar said.

White farmers frustrated as govt fails to honour compensation deal

White farmers frustrated as govt fails to honour compensation deal

www.newsday.co.zw

 

[therealdope]

And when those tractors break,

I read those words and immediately thought of post Soviet collapse. The farmers had become so dependent on gov't support for everything that as soon as machinery stopped working, and there was no gov't to fix it immediately, it was immediate shocking collapse. It even lead to some starvation deaths.

they won't have the money and/or resources to fix them. John Deere is at the forefront of fighting against your right to repair your own stuff. Fuck John Deere.

That's really shitty of John Deere. Companies like this really bug me.

 

[Broke Lester]

I read those words and immediately thought of post Soviet collapse. The farmers had become so dependent on gov't support for everything that as soon as machinery stopped working, and there was no gov't to fix it immediately, it was immediate shocking collapse. It even lead to some starvation deaths.



That's really shitty of John Deere. Companies like this really bug me.

Agreed, LG is a company I boycotted, not only can a person not buy parts to repair their own appliances, but the parts can only be sold to an authorized LG repair person. And they can go fuck themselves.

 

[therealdope]

Agreed, LG is a company I boycotted, not only can a person not buy parts to repair their own appliances, but the parts can only be sold to an authorized LG repair person. And they can go fuck themselves.

We should do a thread on companies that fuck customers around by preventing repair. I have fixed our washer and dryer (high end Bosch) a couple of times. Most people just get new ones because a repairman can charge $500 for simple heater swap out ($130 part). Our stuff is 17 yrs old so i looked at the average lifespan of current washer-dryer systems and it's only 10-13 yrs. WTF?

I would never buy LG washer-dryers if they don't provide parts or obstruct repair.

 

[Broke Lester]

We should do a thread on companies that fuck customers around by preventing repair. I have fixed our washer and dryer (high end Bosch) a couple of times. Most people just get new ones because a repairman can charge $500 for simple heater swap out ($130 part). Our stuff is 17 yrs old so i looked at the average lifespan of current washer-dryer systems and it's only 10-13 yrs. WTF?

I would never buy LG washer-dryers if they don't provide parts or obstruct repair.

Mine was a fridge but either way this is the way they do business. I once called a repairman for a dryer, they quoted 800 plus tax to fix my 4 year old dryer. a new dyer is about 1100 with warranty. Long story short I opened it up and the spider arm that connects to the drum was broken, bought the part and fixed it myself for under 200. The motherboard on my stove went, i took it out and found a guy to repair it for 90, a new mother board was 350, plus install. If you have some skills and youtube, a lot of the stuff can be repaired fairly cheap.

 

[Belaya Smert]

Isn’t anything you can do to feed more people on the African Continent as a whole a good thing?

 

[Rod1]

SA should take notice. hopefully decades of neglect didnt render the land non arable.

Land is usable but the knowledge is probably lost.

You can bring them back "online" with sufficient investment, but who the fuck would invest in Zimbabwe? you would need someone with an army to protect their assets, maybe they should ask Wagner PMC.

 

[Bagatur]

Land is usable but the knowledge is probably lost.

You can bring them back "online" with sufficient investment, but who the fuck would invest in Zimbabwe? you would need someone with an army to protect their assets, maybe they should ask Wagner PMC.

and seeing how they dont stick to their deal, why would anyone want to come back? so that a generation later their hard work is stolen again?

 

[Rod1]

and seeing how they dont stick to their deal, why would anyone want to come back? so that a generation later their hard work is stolen again?

Pretty much yeah