In the High Court case, the CFU, wants Land and Resettlement Minister, Herbert Murerwa, to forthwith take all steps necessary to ensure that his ministry undertakes valuations of all farms expropriated for resettlement and facilitate compensation.
Interest at the prescribed rate shall be payable on such compensation as is assessed with effect from the 14 September 2005 to the date of payment, the CFU noted.
The court case comes a year after Zimbabwes white commercial farmers last April demanded US$5 billion in immediate compensation from the government before they could vacate their farms. The compensation is nearly Zimbabwes present foreign debt of about US$6 billion.
The Attorney Generals Office has in recent months stepped up prosecution of white farmers it claims are refusing to vacate land acquired by the government for purposes of re-distribution to land less blacks.
This is despite the fact that the Southern African Development (SADC) Tribunal ruled in 2008 that the governments land reform programme is discriminatory and illegal under the SADC Treaty to which Zimbabwe is signatory.
Commercial farmers organisations say invaders have since taken at least 150 of the about 300 remaining white-owned commercial farms despite the formation of an inclusive government. The invasions have continued despite an order by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to arrest and prosecute farm invaders.
The International Monetary Fund and Western countries have indicated that they would not lend money to Zimbabwe if farm invasions continue.
Zimbabwe has since 2000, when land reforms began, relied on food imports and hand-outs from international food agencies mainly due to failure by resettled black peasants to maintain production on former white farms.
Post published in: News