by Andrew Moyo
HARARE - Zimbabwe's white commercial farmers have demanded US$5 billion in immediate compensation from the government before they can vacate their farms, their leadership said on Thursday.
"The compensation is equal to the country's present debt, about US$5 billion," Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) president Trevor Gifford told ZimOnline, adding; "We want it paid and paid now according to the constitution."
The development, which comes after six farmers were arrested in the past two weeks for refusing to leave the farms, could be a big blow for the country's agricultural based economy, which has depended heavily on the few remaining white commercial farmers.
The Attorney General's department has in recent weeks stepped up prosecution of white farmers it claims are refusing to vacate land acquired by the government for purposes of redistribution to land less blacks.
This is despite the fact that the Southern African Development (SADC) Tribunal ruled last year that the government's land reform programme is discriminatory and illegal under the SADC Treaty to which Zimbabwe is signatory.
Gifford said that they had met with eight government ministers between Tuesday and Wednesday where the farmers told Lands Minister Herbert Murerwa that they were happy to get their compensation and leave the farms.
Murerwa was not available for comment on the matter and the CFU leader said he was not at liberty to disclose the government reaction to the request.
Government is broke and cannot pay civil servants and failure to give the farmers their compensation could lead to another round of clashes and court cases.
"It has been a very hectic week, a large number of my constituency are saying they no longer want to farm and want compensation," Gifford said.
"They do not have the money but they are evicting farmers. We have always said we want to work together. We are trying to find a way forward so that those who still want to farm can continue without interference. We are in dialogue but we have had some cordial meetings with some very influential people," he added.
He refused to identify the rest of the ministers the CFU had met, saying this could jeopadise the negotiations.
Hordes of ZANU PF supporters, so-called war veterans and members of the army and police stepped up farm invasions almost immediately after the formation of the inclusive government in February between ZANU PF and the MDC formations.
Commercial farmers' organisations say invaders have since raided at least 100 of the about 300 remaining white-owned commercial farms, a development that has intensified doubts over whether the unity government will withstand attempts by ZANU PF hardliners to sabotage it.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last month ordered the arrest and prosecution of farm invaders, but his word appears to have been largely ignored with farmers reporting continuing invasions of their properties and disruption of farming activities.
The International Monetary Fund and Western countries have - on top of other conditions - made it clear that hey would not consider giving aid to the Harare government while farm invasion continue.
Zimbabwe, also grappling with its worst ever economic crisis, has since 2000 when land reforms began, relied on food imports and handouts from international food agencies mainly due to failure by resettled black peasants to maintain production on former white farms.
Poor performance in the mainstay agricultural sector has also had far reaching consequences as hundreds of thousands of people have lost jobs while the manufacturing sector, starved of inputs from the sector, is operating below 30 percent of capacity. - ZimOnline