Zimbabwe war vets angry over return of seized farms to former colonisers

A GOVERNMENT decision to return 67 formerly foreign-owned farms seized during Zimbabwe's land reform programme has triggered outrage among war veterans and former ZAPU members, who say properties confiscated from them decades ago remain unresolved.

Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka recently told Parliament that the farms would be transferred back to former owners from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the former Yugoslavia under obligations linked to Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPA).

The move comes as President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration intensifies efforts to rebuild relations with Western countries and secure international debt relief after more than two decades of economic isolation.

Zimbabwe's foreign debt reportedly stood at US$13.6 billion as of September 2025, including US$7.7 billion in arrears.

International lenders have long demanded economic and governance reforms, including resolution of land disputes, as part of conditions for debt restructuring and renewed financial support.

Government agreed to a US$3.5 billion compensation deal with about 4,000 former white commercial farmers in 2020, although implementation has been slow because of financial constraints.

Authorities later revised the arrangement to include dollar-denominated bonds, but some farmers reportedly rejected the proposal.

Former ZIPRA combatants and ZAPU supporters say the Government has failed to return farms and companies seized from them during the early 1980s.

Sibangilizwe Nkomo described the decision to return farms to former foreign owners as "outrageous and provoking".

"They are now rushing to return land to foreigners. We are crying and complaining that they must return our farms which we bought, but they refuse," Nkomo said.

In 1982, Government seized farms and companies linked to PF Zapu under the Unlawful Organisations Act after accusing the late Joshua Nkomo of plotting to overthrow then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe following the alleged discovery of arms caches.

The confiscated properties were never returned.

In 2019, President Mnangagwa pledged to restore ZIPRA properties, but critics say little progress has been made.

In May 2025, a group of ZIPRA veterans, widows and children of deceased ex-combatants reportedly camped in Chinhoyi demanding the return of Nitram Holdings properties allegedly seized during the Gukurahundi period.

ZIPRA war veteran and Bulawayo ZAPU secretary Vivian Siziba said Government should never have authorised the farm seizures involving protected foreign-owned land.

"Those farms were acquired lawfully after independence with the approval of the Zimbabwe government. It was the government's naivety and folly to authorise the occupation of those farms without due consideration of Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements," Siziba said.

Ibhetshu LikaZulu secretary-general Mbuso Fuzwayo also questioned why ZAPU and ZIPRA properties remained unresolved.

"It's important to pay and do things legally, but when are they going to return the Zipra and Zapu properties? Many citizens are owed compensation by the government and Zipra guerrillas still expect their properties," he said.

National Democratic Working Group deputy spokesperson Silenkosi Moyo criticised the move, arguing that the Government should settle compensation obligations through alternative funding sources.

"Land belongs to Zimbabweans. The government should settle the debt using other sources of finance like mineral proceeds. This is self-volunteering for recolonisation, surrendering to them and admitting its failure to use the land," Moyo said.