Harare | Saturday
THE Zimbabwe government on Friday said it was still open to continue dialogue with white farmers in a bid to resolve the land country’s land crisis.
“Doors of government are open to any negotiations that would work towards the implementation of the Abuja agreement,” Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said.
An accord was reached in Nigeria early this month to try and find a lasting solution to Zimbabwe’s land reform crisis, which has political overtones.
Talks between the government and white farmers broke down this week apparently following the government’s stance that it expected the farmers to give it 8,5-million hectares of land on an uncontested basis for resettlement of blacks.
On the eve of the Abuja talks early this month, the government accepted an offer of one million hectares of land from white farmers.
“We believe that once the white farmers make up their minds that they want to cooperate, the first thing is, we expect then that they will make available the 8,5-million hectares on an uncontested basis,” said Chinamasa.
“If that fails then it means we have to go through the courts and this will delay the process,” Chinamasa said in an interview on state television.
White farmers on Wednesday said they had made “no progress at all” in talks with the government this week aimed at avoiding a legal showdown over land reform.
Their lawyer Adrian de Bourbon said while meeting was held without prejudice, “no progress was made at all and the door has been closed to approaches to others in government,” because of the attitude of the justice minister.
Representatives of farmers met late on Monday with Chinamasa to try to settle a case in which the government has asked the Supreme Court to overturn its previous ruling and declare the government’s land reforms legal.
The meeting came at the urging of Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku — who was sworn in by President Robert Mugabe in August after his predecessor was pressured to quit.
But said Chinamasa: “Our doors remain open, and that when they (white farmers) have thought about it, they will come back and talk to us to see how we can move forward the Abuja agreement”. – AFP
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