Divisions Rock Former Farmers | Report
Some white former farmers who lost land during Zimbabwe’s fast-track land resettlement programme have criticised the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) leadership for allegedly failing to be firm during their engagements with the government.
Business Times reported sources as saying aggrieved farmers accuse CFU leadership of being “too weak” to deal with the issues at hand.
The farmers suspect that the leadership may have been persuaded by the government into accepting compensation outside the agreed timeline of 5 years.
Two years ago, the government tabled a US$3.5 billion offer to the former farmers.
But four months ago, the government gave the former farmers four months to decide on a 20-year bond that would see the government paying US$70 million per year as compensation for their assets expropriated during the land reform exercise.
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An aggrieved former farmer who spoke to Business Times said CFU leadership accepts “everything” tabled by the government. Said the former farmer:
We are saying we don’t want the bonds as they take time to recoup our money but the leadership is taking time to tell the government that we don’t want them.
Why do we have to wait for December to tell the authorities that bonds are not viable given our age?
The problem is that some of our leaders still have pieces of land which they were removed from and they don’t share the same pain we have.
The CFU president Andrew Pascoe is reportedly still farming at his Ivordale Farm located 45km East of Harare along Nyamapanda road.
Recently, former CFU president Charles Tuffs urged the former farmers to exercise patience and “give the government a chance”.
