WHITE commercial farmers who lost land during a programme of violent seizures that began in 2000 would be compensated for improvements to the properties when the country had funds available, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Friday. “Compensating the farmers is covered by our constitution,” Chinamasa said. “We will compensate them for improvements they made to the land when we’re able to do so.” The seizures caused exports of crops ranging from tobacco to paprika to slump and the country experienced several years of famine. The economy also halved in size between 2000 and 2012, according to government estimates. The US and the EU cited the seizures, violence and electoral irregularities when imposing sanctions on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe that the government said had hindered an economic revival. –
Bloomberg