CITIZENS Coalition for Change (CCC) legislator Darlington Chigumbu has said that the government's initiative to compensate former white farmers overlooks the disadvantaged black workers who toiled on the farms.
The government recently announced that it is disbursing US$20 million to farmers who were displaced as a result of the land reform process aimed at addressing historical injustices in the early 2000s.
The 94 farmers, hailing from countries such as Switzerland and Germany, are covered under Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (BIPPAs) that Zimbabwe signed with the farmers' countries of origin.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said that the compensation is for the developments the farmers carried out on the farms prior to their displacement.
Speaking in the National Assembly recently, Chigumbu argued that the programme is ignoring the historical injustices suffered by native workers while developing the farms.
"It is a good thing that our country is honouring its commitments. I would want to bring to the attention of this House that we need to be cognisant of the fact that there are some historical injustices that happened as these people acquired the land. It is a good thing that the Ministry is saying they are paying these people for the developments that were made on the land that was repossessed around 2000.
"However, they should also not be blind to the fact that the developments that these people are now being paid for, actually came as a result of labour practises that were near to slavery and our grandfathers are no longer there to be part and parcel or to also claim with these farmers to say they also contributed to the development of that particular piece of land as well as not being treated fairly.
"It is also sad that this whole arrangement seems not to be taking into consideration these people who participated in the development of these particular pieces of land," said Chugumbu.
The government has faced criticism from opposition groups for compensating landowners whose land was forcibly taken from local inhabitants during the colonial era.
Chigumbu further suggested that there should be a mechanism to ensure that the native workers who laboured on these farms are also compensated.
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"The third aspect is that when the land was re-distributed, the big guys are the ones who took parts of the farm land which was properly developed and l can tell that they are not part and parcel of this whole arrangement.
"My prayer is that can this arrangement include a model whereby these people who are going to receive the payments of the developments that they have done on these pieces of land also pay the people who worked on these pieces of land, which they were not paid fairly during the time they were working on these pieces of land?
"I understand most of these people are no longer alive but is it not also prudent Mr. Speaker Sir, to say that they can give back to the communities where their farms are located so that they can also pay something? The reason would be because they are now benefiting from something they did not pay for in as much as we are talking about the developments that were done on the pieces of land that they are now being paid for," he said.
