EFF slams Zimbabwe’s ‘treasonous’ decision to compensate white farmers

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have slammed the Zimbabwean government, led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, for its decision to compensate white farmers who were dispossessed of their land during the forceful eviction process which occurred in 2000.

On Wednesday 29 July 2020, Mnangagwa confirmed that a landmark compensation agreement had been signed to redress injustices committed under former President Robert Mugabe’s watch.

The violent expropriation of white-owned farmland displaced an estimated 4 500 people and subsequently plunged the country into economic free-fall.

Compensation part of ‘a new Zimbabwe’ – Mnangagwa

Addressing the atrocities within the context of building a ‘new Zimbabwe’ which would cater to all who wish to serve the country, regardless of race or culture, Mnangagwa described the signing of the compensation agreement as “historic in many respects”.

The agreement states that farmers will receive compensation for infrastructure developed on the land and will be paid 50% of the balance within the year and the rest over a five-year period.

‘Mnangagwa a clueless, ideological amoeba’ – EFF

While questions and doubts about the poverty-stricken country’s ability to make good on the compensation agreement persist, the EFF condemned Mnangagwa’s decision to “capitulate to pressure” in a strongly-worded statement issued on Friday morning. The EFF said:

“We are of the firm view that Mnangagwa is either deeply misinformed about the real causes of the crisis in Zimbabwe, or is simply capitulating to pressure from the white supremacist world.

Either way, this treasonous act of paying white settlers money that Zimbabwe does not have will not resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe, which is essentially a political crisis resulting from years of mismanagement, at the centre of which Mnangagwa features prominently.”

The EFF statement added that the occupation of white-owned land followed a failed ‘willing seller, willing buyer’ framework associated with Zimbabwe’s fight for independence. Forceful evictions, sanctioned by the late Mugabe — who the EFF have described as a “resolute and ideologically clear leader” — resulted from a breakdown in the land reform process.

Further berating Mnangagwa for the chaos in Zimbabwe, the EFF added that the current president would be remembered as a “clueless, ideological amoeba”, adding:

“Mnangagwa is now not only pissing on the graves of the many heroic men and women who laid down their lives for the return of Zimbabwean land, but he is also desecrating the legacy of Robert Mugabe.”

The EFF’s statement on the compensation agreement coincides with mass protest action in Zimbabwe. Thousands of Zimbabweans have vowed to defy lockdown regulations and threats of harsh action at the hands of Mnangagwa’s security forces to demonstrate against corruption in the streets of Harare.