(MENAFN) Zimbabwe’s government has begun compensating white commercial farmers who lost land during the land reform program led by former president Robert Mugabe. According to state-run The Herald newspaper, this development represents a major step toward resolving a decades-old controversy.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced that the government has issued $307 million in treasury bonds and distributed $3.1 million (approximately R58 million) in cash to 378 affected farmers. The cash payout accounts for 1% of the total $311 million allocated for the first phase of compensation.

In 2023, Ncube said the government would allocate $20 million (around R350 million) to compensate 94 farmers under the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA). At that time, he confirmed that the verification process to identify eligible recipients was nearing completion, allowing the compensation process to begin.

“This is a long-term, multi-year compensation program and not a one-time event,” Ncube emphasized.

As of this week, Zimbabwe’s land compensation committee has approved 740 claims in total.

The controversial land reform initiative began around the year 2000, with Mugabe arguing it was necessary to correct historical injustices from the colonial era, which left most arable land in the hands of the white minority after independence in 1980. Mugabe, who passed away in 2019, maintained that the redistribution was essential to redress colonial-era imbalances.

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