BULAWAYO
–
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
party
plans
to
reopen
talks
with
Britain
amid
faint
hopes
the
former
colonial
master
could
reconsider
a
return
to
its
pledges
to
contribute
financially
towards
Harare’s
land
reform
policy,
long
blemished
by
violent
land
grabs
from
thousands
of
former
commercial
white
farmers
since
the
turn
of
the
century.
The
talks
collapsed
spectacularly
back
in
1997
when
the
British
Labour
government
led
by
now
former
Prime
Minister
Tony
Blair
pulled
out
citing
corruption
and
financial
mismanagement,
among
other
alleged
ills
by
Zimbabwean
authorities
under
late
former
President
Robert
Mugabe.
The
stalemate
triggered
what
became
chaotic
land
seizures
which
started
early
2000
and
continued
unabated
into
the
later
years.
According
to
authorities,
nearly
4,000
white
farmers
lost
their
land
and
have
not
been
compensated
almost
two
decades
since
the
land
grabs.
The
Zimbabwe
government,
through
Treasury,
announced
plans
recently
to
compensate
over
400
former
farm
owners
affected
by
the
land
reform
process,
adding
it
has
allocated
US$20
million
towards
the
reimbursement
process.
The
Zanu
PF
led
authority
further
pledged
a
US$3.5
million
compensation
to
local
farmers
by
the
end
of
2024.
However,
in
resolutions
drafted
at
its
annual
people’s
conference
in
Bulawayo
over
the
weekend,
Zanu
PF
resolved
to
“engage
the
British
Government
to
fulfil
its
promise
to
contribute
financially
to
pay
off
former
white
commercial
farmers”.