farmers |
Compensation for
German nationals who lost their farms during Zimbabwe's controversial
land reforms is an "urgent and important" issue, Berlin's chief diplomat
to Harare has said.
Germany ambassador
to Zimbabwe, Thorsten Hutter, said recompense for his country's
nationals must be part of the re-engagement dialogue between Harare and
the European Union (EU).
President Robert
Mugabe's chaotic and often violent protests affected German investors in
Zimbabwe's agricultural sector who were supposed to have been protected
under Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements (Bipas) between the
two countries.
Harare is now
pushing for better ties for with the EU after years of sanctions from
Brussels over concerns with Mugabe's record on human rights and
allegations of electoral fraud.
However, speaking
after a meeting the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda Monday
ambassador Hutter Zimbabwe must address issues arising from its land
reform excesses.
"I did not discuss
this issue (compensation) with the Speaker of Parliament today but what I
can say is that this issue is important," said the envoy.
"We have a number of Germany nationals who invested here in Zimbabwe after independence who are not here anymore.
"We have a
particular case where the issue of compensation was the verdict at the
international court that compensation has to be made available and I
believe that this is part of the process that the government has to."
Finance minister
Patrick Chinamasa is on record saying the government is committed to
compensating the white former commercial farmers affected by the land
reforms, but that its efforts were being hampered the lack of funds.
However, the
government has made clear that it would only pay for what it describes
as "improvements" on the land and not for the land itself.
Mugabe says the former commercial farms must demand compensation for the lad itself from former coloniser Britain.
The veteran leader
insists that his internationally condemned reforms were aimed at
correcting historical imbalances in land ownership in the country.
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