Land, diamonds haunt ED in US

TAURAI MANGUDHLA/BERNARD MPOFU

President Emmerson Mnangagwa was taken to task by foreign investors over transparency in the diamond sector, property rights and delays in compensating former commercial white farmers as the emotive issue gained currency nearly 20 years after the agrarian reform was embarked on.

Thousands of white farmers from the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands lost vast tracts of land when government embarked on an agrarian reform to address colonial legacies.

The programme which saw some Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements being violated, triggered the European Union to slap Zimbabwe with sanctions that paralysed agriculture output.

Mnangagwa was recently in the United States attending the United Nations General Assembly where he took the opportunity to engage with foreign investors, bilateral and multilateral creditors.

Sources familiar with the meetings said investors from Belgium and Germany expressed concern over government’s lethargy in paying the farmers. Another topical issue that took centre stage during the meeting, include sanctions by the United States on Zimbabwe which were currently renewed.

In August, United States President Donald Trump signed into law the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Amendment Act. The Bill was passed by the United States Congress in July and sets tough conditions for Zimbabwe to re-engage with the United States of America. The Zidera Act means that Zimbabwe’s economy is unlikely going to get financial support from creditors funded by the US government until it embarks on a raft of economic and political reforms.

“During the meeting government made it clear that the land reform programme was irreversible in line with country’s Constitution,” a source said.

“Europeans sympathetic to Germans wanted to know what steps government is taking to address this issue. They are looking at firm commitments such as accepting that the compensation constitutes part of the national debt.

“So they have been influencing their Government and those were the main topics highlighted and debated at the New York meetings. They also quizzed that there must be clarity around the country’s diamond operations. So they highlighted that there is need for clarity around the issues and government needs to shift from just talking but acting,” said a government source who was part of the delegation that went to New York.

” Investors, the sources said, also asked for clarity on the country’s diamond sector following government’s move to consolidate operations in Marange.

“Issues relating to the transparency of the sector were also discussed with investors demanding that information on companies operating in Marange should be accessible,” a source said

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