ZIMBABWE RETURNING 67 FARMS TO WHITE OWNERS AFTER MUGABE-ERA SEIZURES. (PHOTO).

 Zimbabwe returning 67 farms to white owners after Mugabe-era seizures

Zimbabwe will return 67 farms seized from foreigners from four European countries covered by bilateral investment pacts, the country's agriculture minister said, as it seeks to mend ties with Western countries.

The Southern African country started seizing white-owned farms under its late leader Robert Mugabe in 2000, in a move the government said at the time was meant to resettle landless Black people and redress colonial-era land ownership imbalances.

The seizures wrecked commercial agriculture and precipitated a currency collapse in 2008.

Mugabe's successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa has sought to improve ties with Western governments, which imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe over the land seizures.

Mass compensation

Agriculture minister Anxious Masuka told lawmakers on Wednesday that the government would give the 67 farms back to nationals from Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands as they were covered by the bilateral investment protection agreements, Reuters reported.

"We are in the process of returning those to them," Masuka said in response to a question by a lawmaker.

The European countries are part of the group of Western countries discussing debt relief with Zimbabwe.

Mnangagwa, a long-time ally of Mugabe who replaced his mentor in a 2017 coup, agreed a $3.5 billion compensation deal with about 4,000 white farmers in 2020, but the payments are yet to be fully made due to challenging financial times.