Opinion / Blogs
Could the Zimbabwe - Britain impasse end!
27 Jun 2011 at 10:26hrs | Views
Harare - Will Zimbabwe and Britain ever see eye-to-eye over the land issue?
According to some Internet news reports, the two bickering countries might soon be sitting at one table to thrash out a thorny issue whose origins stretch back over 100 years.
According to the reports, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (ZANU-PF), MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC counterpart Professor Welshman Ncube will engage the British government over compensation to former white commercial farmers whose land was re-distributed to landless blacks.
However, if there really is any truth to the reports, the parties involved are not showing their cards.
Zimbabwe's Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment on the issue and neither could Harare's Embassy in London.
The British Embassy in Harare responded to questions emailed to it in very general terms. 'We have always made clear our willingness to work with others in the international community to support land reform as part of a wider recovery package for Zimbabwe.
'But it has to be a fair and transparent process which genuinely benefits poor Zimbabweans and not a means for the elite and supporters of the previous regime to enrich themselves,' the embassy said.
The diplomatic mission then denied sole responsibility to fund land reforms in Zimbabwe. 'The British government does not accept that the UK has a duty to take on sole responsibility for a recovery package on land or to pay compensation to farmers.'
Britain and the United States agreed at the Lancaster House conference in 1979 to fund Zimbabwe's land reform.
Soon after independence in 1980, the successive British governments led by Conservatives Margaret Thatcher and John Major made efforts to provide financial support for Zimbabwe's land reforms.
However the ascendancy of Tony Blair and his Labour government saw a dramatic shift in policy with then British Ovserseas Development Minister Claire Short in 1997 writing to Zimbabwe saying the UK bore no responsibility.
Short said that was an agreement with a Conservative government while they were a Labour administration, an assertion analysts have always said is in contravention of the internationally-recognized principle of state succession.
With no funds forthcoming for compensation, the government in Harare decided not to stall much further and in 2000, 21 years after the Lancaster Agreement, embarked on a fast-track redistribution programme that saw nearly 300 000 black families benefiting from land previously held by about 6 000 white farmers.
The fallout from that has seen Britain leading a Western charge to slap illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe and try and oust President Mugabe's government.
According to some Internet news reports, the two bickering countries might soon be sitting at one table to thrash out a thorny issue whose origins stretch back over 100 years.
According to the reports, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (ZANU-PF), MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC counterpart Professor Welshman Ncube will engage the British government over compensation to former white commercial farmers whose land was re-distributed to landless blacks.
However, if there really is any truth to the reports, the parties involved are not showing their cards.
Zimbabwe's Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment on the issue and neither could Harare's Embassy in London.
The British Embassy in Harare responded to questions emailed to it in very general terms. 'We have always made clear our willingness to work with others in the international community to support land reform as part of a wider recovery package for Zimbabwe.
'But it has to be a fair and transparent process which genuinely benefits poor Zimbabweans and not a means for the elite and supporters of the previous regime to enrich themselves,' the embassy said.
The diplomatic mission then denied sole responsibility to fund land reforms in Zimbabwe. 'The British government does not accept that the UK has a duty to take on sole responsibility for a recovery package on land or to pay compensation to farmers.'
Britain and the United States agreed at the Lancaster House conference in 1979 to fund Zimbabwe's land reform.
Soon after independence in 1980, the successive British governments led by Conservatives Margaret Thatcher and John Major made efforts to provide financial support for Zimbabwe's land reforms.
However the ascendancy of Tony Blair and his Labour government saw a dramatic shift in policy with then British Ovserseas Development Minister Claire Short in 1997 writing to Zimbabwe saying the UK bore no responsibility.
Short said that was an agreement with a Conservative government while they were a Labour administration, an assertion analysts have always said is in contravention of the internationally-recognized principle of state succession.
With no funds forthcoming for compensation, the government in Harare decided not to stall much further and in 2000, 21 years after the Lancaster Agreement, embarked on a fast-track redistribution programme that saw nearly 300 000 black families benefiting from land previously held by about 6 000 white farmers.
The fallout from that has seen Britain leading a Western charge to slap illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe and try and oust President Mugabe's government.
Source - The Southern Times
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
