Zim pays former Dutch farmers $6,1m
Financial gazette 13 December 2018
Tabitha Mutenga Features Editor
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has started paying compensation lo 13 Dutch farmers who lost their Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) protected farms during the land reform programme.
The farmers led by Bernardus Henricus Funnekotter look the Zimbabwean government to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (1CS1D) in 2005 and were awarded compensation initially valued at $9,247 million.
With interest and costs brought by the protracted legal battle as Zimbabwe tried to annul the judgement, the amount last year had readied $52 million.
Mildred Chiri, the country’s auditor general confirmed the latest development in her 2017 appropriation account for Lands and Rural Resettlement.
“Treasury paid $6112 703 to Montreaux and Partners for ICSID case Number ARB/05/6 from the unallocated reserves being compensation for improvements for Dutch farmers. There was a variance in the Ministry of $6 112 703 between the unallocated reserve transfer figure disclosed in the Ministry Appropriation Account and that disclosed in Treasury records,” she said.
From the ICSID website, the Bernard us Henricus and others v. Republic of Zimbabwe (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/6) shows that the case has been concluded.
Addressing some Dutch investors who visited the country in June this year, Lands minister Penance Shiri, then assured the prospecting investors that government was committed to compensating the former farmers.
The Constitution clearly states that government is obliged to compensate the previous land owners; however, the nature of compensation may vary. For BIPPAs government will compensate for both the land and improvements.
From the report, there are also indications that treasury also paid $3,6 million to Interfresh Limited (Inter-. fresh) as compensation for immovable farm improvements.
Interfresh lost a part of Mazoe Citrus Estate in 2013 after the then Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement allocated it to another party.
“I was not availed with supporting documents to authenticate the payment of $3 603 243 made to Interfresh Limited as compensation for immovable farm improvements, Interfresh was paid by Treasury and the Ministry has since requested Treasury to provide the supporting documents,” Chiri said.
Government is also saddled with a $240 million arbitral award to a family of Swiss-German investors, the von Pezold family and their company Border Timbers won twin awards against the Zimbabwean Government in 2015.
In its re-engagement efforts, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested to government that compensating fanners who lost their farms was one of the requirements for Zimbabwe to access new foreign funding.