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Govt to respond to land reform report
Daily Mirror
July 07, 2004

Speaking in the House of Commons while opening a debate on Zimbabwe on Thursday last week, Britain’s Foreign secretary, Jack Straw claimed the government failed to fully utilise the £47 million fund availed to it as it had failed to formulate project proposals.

Straw’s remarks are the latest in a series of denials by the British government that it reneged on its promises made at the 1979 Lancaster House talks to fund post-independence Zimbabwe’s land reforms.

"It is a mark of the Zimbabwean government’s failure over that period that they handed back £3 million of that £47 million, because they had insufficient projects on which to spend it—a sign that until the late 1990s, the process, whose pace was dictated by the Zimbabwean government, had been progressing at a relatively modest pace and with a low political priority. This coincided with years of growing prosperity for Zimbabwe,’ said Straw.

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pavelyn Musaka said it was only the minister of Finance, Herbert Murerwa, who could comment on the matter.

The House of Commons opened a debate on Zimbabwe on the first of this month, in which its legislators sought ways on how to "deal" with Zimbabwe, a development Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge said they were watching so as to respond accordingly. The motion came a day after the ruling Zanu PF had won a motion in Parliament to investigate the MDC’s relationship with the UK.

This was after the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair had claimed his government was working with the opposition to effect regime change in Zimbabwe.

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