A group of Zimbabwe’s dispossessed white commercial farmers has hired lobbyists in Washington with ties to the Trump administration to secure US support for a long‑delayed US$3.5 billion compensation deal agreed with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
The farmers, whose land was seized during Zimbabwe’s fast‑track land reform programme in the 2000s, are seeking payment for infrastructure and improvements on their former properties.
Mnangagwa pledged in 2020 to honour the compensation agreement as part of efforts to repair relations with Western governments, but Zimbabwe’s US$23 billion debt burden has left the state unable to pay.
Under a compromise arrangement introduced last year, farmers who signed up received one percent of their entitlement upfront, with the remainder issued as 10‑year treasury bonds paying two percent interest.
According to reports monitored here on Monday, only about 17 percent of affected farmers have accepted the offer, with many expressing doubts that the government will be able to honour the bonds.
The lobbying effort came to light through filings by Mercury Public Affairs LLC, a Washington firm engaged via South Africa‑based OB Projects Management.
Mercury’s declaration to the US Department of Justice shows it was asked to lobby the White House and Congress – free of charge – to help secure the outstanding US$3.5 billion, potentially through US‑backed debt‑relief or financing arrangements involving institutions such as the World Bank.
Any such move would require changes to US law.
The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA), enacted in 2001 in response to the land seizures, obliges the US Treasury to oppose new lending or debt relief for Zimbabwe.
A new bill introduced in Congress last year proposes repealing ZIDERA but would make future international financing conditional on Zimbabwe settling the farmers’ compensation within 12 months.
The lobbying has divided the farming community.
Some groups, including the Property and Farms Compensation Association, have acknowledged engaging US firms, while the larger Commercial Farmers Union has distanced itself, saying it was not consulted.
Others fear that involving Trump‑aligned lobbyists could worsen already strained relations between Harare and Washington.
JN/APA