Zimbabwe must pay compensation to German farmers who have been stripped of their lands in the framework of agricultural reform. This was declared by Germany’s ambassador near Zimbabwe, Thorsten Hutter, in an interview with BBC.

“We have a number of German 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,” the diplomat said.

Implemented in the 2000s by President Mugabe’s administration to correct inequalities in terms of access to agricultural lands in Zimbabwe, the land reform led, over three years, to the seizure of 90% of lands owned by the country’s white minority.

So far, though it promised to, the government is yet the demanded compensation saying it has some financial difficulties preventing it from doing so.

M. Hutter’s intervention comes in a particular context it must be noted. Indeed, “Harare is now pushing for better ties with the EU after years of sanctions from Brussels over concerns with Mugabe’s record on human rights and allegations of electoral fraud,” the British media reported.

Souha Touré