KEY POINTS
- Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa urges Britain to address colonial land injustices before Zimbabwe compensates white farmers.
- Zimbabwe is seeking reparations, citing recent UK and German apologies to former colonies.
- Mnangagwa’s remarks call for justice to foster national healing over land reform grievances.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called for Britain to compensate Zimbabwe for colonial-era land seizures. His reprieve came following his government’s address on payments to white commercial farmers for infrastructural improvements on redistributed farms.
At the Zimbabwe National Elders Forum, Mnangagwa referenced recent European acknowledgments of colonial injustices. He noted examples like the U.K.’s apology to Kenya’s Mau Mau community and Germany’s reparations to Namibian groups.
“We have observed that former colonial powers like the United Kingdom recently apologized to the Mau Mau of Kenya, and Germany has also expressed regret to the Mbanderu, Herero, and Nama people of Namibia,” Mnangagwa said. “Therefore, we ask: When will the rest of us in the former colonies receive similar apologies?”
Seeking justice for Zimbabwe’s displaced communities
Mnangagwa’s administration is working to compensate white commercial farmers for the infrastructure on the seized farms. This effort follows Zimbabwe’s land reform program.
While the initiative seeks to foster national healing, Mnangagwa questioned whether former colonial powers should provide reparations to Zimbabwe first, potentially easing the country’s path to make reparations of its own.
The Zimbabwe National Elders Forum, a platform leveraging the experience of senior citizens for policy influence, supported Mnangagwa’s stance. Chairman Rev. Felix Mukonowengwe echoed the call for restitution, emphasizing that communities affected by colonial land policies still suffer today. “The people who were removed from their fertile lands have not been compensated, and there has been no voice to say we are sorry,” Mukonowengwe said. “We are here to tell Zimbabwe and the world that these people must be compensated somehow.”
Diplomatic relations on the legacy of land reform
The president’s remarks underscore Zimbabwe’s lingering grievances over land ownership, which date back from the colonial era until the reform efforts of the early 2000s. Zimbabwe’s land reform history has been marked by controversy, with the government aiming to provide reparations to the white farmers.
But Mnangagwa argued that the broader injustices of colonial land policies have yet to be resolved. Managagwa’s statements underscore renewed efforts to engage former colonial powers diplomatically. His appeal is a global call for justice that extends beyond Zimbabwe’s borders while spotlighting the complex history of Zimbabwe’s land reform history.
