Zimbabwe to compensate war prisoners

Zimbabwe to compensate war prisoners

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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE has agreed to pay former political prisoners detained during the country's independence war a once-off gratuity and regular living benefits, the official Herald newspaper said on Saturday.

"Government has authorised the payment of a 6 million Zimbabwe dollar (US$231) gratuity and the provision of other benefits to every former political prisoner, detainee and restrictee as part of the state's fulfilment of its pledge to reward them for their contribution in the liberation struggle," the paper said, citing a government notice.

The Herald did not say how many people would benefit, but thousands are said to have been detained or had travel restrictions imposed on them by the then white minority government during the guerrilla war during the 1970s.

A copy of the notice was not available on Saturday and government officials were not reachable for comment.

The Herald said the beneficiaries and their families would also get access to loans for commercial projects as well as support for education, medical and funeral expenses.

In 1997 President Robert Mugabe bowed to pressure from about 50,000 veterans of the independence war and approved a 4 billion Zimbabwe dollar payout which plunged the country into crisis and pushed the local currency to a then-record low against the U.S. unit.

The latest payout is likely to draw criticism as the country grapples with a worsening economic downturn manifesting itself in chronic shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, record unemployment and triple-digit inflation.

Last week the International Monetary Fund warned that Zimbabwe's already dire problems would worsen, citing in part low agricultural output which critics say has to a large extent resulted from Harare's forcible redistribution of white-owned commercial farms among blacks ill equipped to fully utilise the land.

Mugabe, in power since the former British colony gained independence in 1980, denies critics' charges of ruining a once-thriving economy, and argues in turn that Zimbabwe's wealth has been undermined by local and foreign opponents of his land reforms - Reuters
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