VZCZCXRO4187
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0507/01 1701414
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 191414Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4637
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2901
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3020
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1452
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2283
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2650
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3068
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5511
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2196
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 HARARE 000507 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR B. WALCH 
DRL FOR N. WILETT 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR J. HARMON AND L. DOBBINS 
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV KIDE PGOV PHUM PREL ZI ECON
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE: 2009 INVESTMENT DISPUTES AND 
EXPROPRIATION REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 49477 
 
------ 
SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU) The United States Government is aware of ten (10) 
claims of United States persons which may be outstanding 
against the Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ).  All ten claims 
arise out of the GOZ's Land Resettlement Program, which 
commenced in 2000.  The general pace of land seizure has 
slowed, as very few non-indigenous commercial farmers are 
left on their properties.  Nevertheless threats of seizure by 
individuals and government officials are unabated and 
disruptions to the operation of the remaining non-indigenous 
commercial farmers are frequent.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Under its continuing Land Resettlement Program, the 
GOZ has targeted almost all farm or wildlife property owned 
by non-indigenous landowners for compulsory acquisition.  The 
GOZ has consistently maintained that no compensation will be 
made for land itself, but that compensation will be made for 
improvements to the property.  However, to date, the GOZ has 
not compensated any American Claimants for either acquired 
property or improvements to property.  Disruptions posed by 
land reform and the economy's generally chaotic conditions 
complicate meaningful valuation of the land or of any 
improvements made.  However, the values of the eight American 
citizen Claimants, properties at issue range from USD 
100,000 to more than USD 2,000,000. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In 2005, Parliament amended the constitution to 
grant title to the government of all agriculturalland 
acquired in the past under the land reform program and any 
agricultural land that may be acquired in the future.  The 
amendment removed the right of landowners, whose land has 
been acquired, to challenge the acquisition in court.  There 
has been no progress either on the ground or in the courts to 
resolve compensation issues for the American-owned 
properties.  Because of judicial and political chaos during 
the land seizures, it is difficult to state precisely when 
most of the ten landowners were legally dispossessed. 
Therefore, the dates of seizure offered below are 
approximations only. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Nine of the ten properties have received either 
Preliminary or Final Notices of Acquisition from the GOZ. 
Most of the American citizens affected have not asked the 
Embassy to intervene beyond raising the issue of compensation 
with appropriate GOZ officials in our normal course of 
meetings and through diplomatic notes. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) a. Claimant A 
 
b.    2002 
 
c.    Claimant A reported that his 2,969 hectare game ranch 
in Marula, Matabeleland South province, had been invaded by 
approximately eight war veterans, and that a prosperous and 
connected Zimbabwean was grazing his cattle on the property. 
Approximately 60 sables had been released from a grazing pen 
and had subsequently disappeared ) either escaped from the 
property or poached.  Last contact with Claimant A was in 
June 2008, when the Claimant reported no change in the 
QJune 2008, when the Claimant reported no change in the 
situation.  Claimant has not responded to inquiries from Post 
in 2009. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)   a. Claimant B 
 
b.    2002 
 
HARARE 00000507  002 OF 005 
 
 
 
c.    Claimant B had an 85-hectare flower)exporting farm in 
Mashonaland East province that was listed for compulsory 
acquisition by the GOZ under an initial notice of acquisition 
(Section 5 notice).  In 2004 the Mashonaland East Governor 
signed a "delisting" form, but the Local Government and Land 
Ministries refused to assent.  Claimant B then attempted to 
sell his property to the nephew of the Chief Justice of 
Zimbabwe's Supreme Court, but the sale fell through as the 
nephew reneged on payment.  Claimant B is off the farm, and 
the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General 
Constantine Chiwenga, currently farms the land.  In June 
2009, Claimant reported no change in the situation in the 
past year. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)   a. Claimant C 
 
b.    2003 
 
c.    Claimant C received a final notice of acquisition 
(Section 8 notice) in January, 2003.  Claimant C purchased 
the 7,618-hectare property in 1985 with Zimbabwe Investment 
Center (ZIC) certificates to run a hunting and photographic 
safari business.  The property is part of a 17-farm, 80,000 
hectare private wildlife conservancy that receives donor 
funding for the conservation of black rhinos.  However 
poaching in recent years has reduced the black rhino 
population from 55 to 22 and jeopardized donor funding.  The 
conservancy owners are being harassed by some members of the 
local population, who are demanding a revenue share in the 
conservancy.  Claimant C has stopped his safari business, as 
he claimed invaders had poached all of the game.  Claimant C 
had been protesting the acquisition through Zimbabwe's 
courts.     After receiving permanent residency in South 
Africa, Claimant C was laying the groundwork to emigrate but, 
at last contact, was unable to secure the proper 
documentation to move personal belongings out of Zimbabwe. 
In June 2009, Claimant C reported no change in the situation 
in the past year. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)   a. Claimant D 
 
b.    2002 
 
c.    Claimant D's rural wildlife-based property, which was 
transferred from a Zimbabwean spouse to a trust benefiting 
the couple's two U.S. citizen children, is located in the 
district of Hwange.  Claimant D used the 420-hectare property 
primarily for hunting and photographic safari purposes.  The 
property was allocated to a Zimbabwean settler who has done 
nothing with the land.  Claimant D left the farm on October 
1, 2002 and the settler kicked off all of Claimant D's 
employees from the land by March 2004.  Claimant D has asked 
the Embassy not to pursue this case through official 
channels.  In May 2008, Claimant reported no change in the 
situation in the past year.  Claimant has not responded to 
inquiries from Post in 2009. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)   a. Claimant E 
 
b.    N/A 
 
c.    Claimant E has received a Section 5 notice but is still 
in possession of the property in the district of Bikita in 
southern Zimbabwe.  This property is dedicated to a 
Qsouthern Zimbabwe.  This property is dedicated to a 
26-property wildlife conservancy containing both black and 
white rhinos.  The GOZ has announced plans to implement a 
land tenure scheme whereby title of conservancies reverts to 
the State, which then grants a 25-year lease to each property 
 
HARARE 00000507  003 OF 005 
 
 
owner.  In return, the current owners would agree to 
indigenize their businesses through shareholder equity.  The 
25-year leases would be automatically renewable, but not 
transferable.  In 2008, Ambassador Dell raised Claimant E's 
case with Environment and Tourism Minister Francis Nhema, who 
indicated that he would like to see Claimant E and the rest 
of the conservancy join the Trans-Frontier Conservation Area 
(a park linking tracts in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South 
Africa).  In 2009, Ambassador McGee again raised Claimant E's 
case with Zimbabwean government officials.  Claimant E 
informed Post in 2009 that he, along with other conservancy 
members, continue to negotiate a solution with the GOZ that 
will address ownership and joining the TFCA. 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  a. Claimant F 
 
b.    2004 
 
c.    Claimant F owns a 996-hectare farm and does not have a 
Zimbabwe Investment Certificate.  Claimant F was able to move 
much of his irrigation and farm equipment off the property 
prior to losing control of the farm but lost 170 head of 
cattle.  Settlers first arrived on the farm in 2000 but 
Claimant F maintained good relations with them and local 
police, and Claimant continued to have access to the farm 
until 2004.  From May to July 2004, Claimant F received 
Section 5 and Section 8 notices of acquisition and asked the 
Embassy to write a diplomatic note protesting the intended 
acquisition.  The Embassy did so and received a pro forma 
response.  Shortly thereafter, Claimant F was no longer 
afforded access to the farm and was effectively dispossessed 
of the land.  There have been no further developments on the 
ground and Claimant F decided not to use the courts as the 
GOZ was not enforcing judgments adverse to its own interests. 
 In June 2009, Claimant F informed Post that there had been 
no change in the status of the claim in the past year. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) a. Claimant G 
 
b.    N/A 
 
c.    Registered in 1997, Claimant G is a subsidiary trust of 
a California-registered Non-Profit Religious Organization 
that  established an environmental and life skills teaching 
center operating near Kadoma.  Claimant G purchased the 
160-hectare parcel in 1999 but has been unable to obtain a 
proper transfer of title.  Nonetheless, in addition to having 
exclusive use of the land since 1999, Claimant G has the 
Agreement of Sale as proof of purchase.  In November 2004, 
Claimant G received a Section 5 initial notice of 
acquisition, to which it responded in court as well as by 
correspondence to various Zimbabwean government entities. 
Claimant G also received a Section 8 notice of immediate 
acquisition, which it is contesting in the courts.  More 
recently, the Ministry of Education has interceded on 
Claimant G's behalf, which has allowed them to remain on the 
property.   Last contact with the Claimant was in 2009. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) a. Claimant H 
 
b.    2006 
 
c.    Claimant H informed the Embassy in April, 2006 that he 
Qc.    Claimant H informed the Embassy in April, 2006 that he 
was the owner, along with his non-American citizen parents, 
of a 33-hectare plot in Nyanga, Eastern Highlands.  Claimant 
H resides in Mozambique; his parents resided on the Nyanga 
site, where they grew apples on part of the plot and sold 
them in the local market.  Although the plot is registered as 
a residential and not agricultural property, it was gazetted 
 
HARARE 00000507  004 OF 005 
 
 
(Section 5 initial notice of acquisition) for takeover.  In 
April 2007, the Claimant informed Post that his parents had 
been forced off the land.  It is becoming increasingly clear, 
however, that the Amcit is a minority share holder and his 
parents, who are not Amcits, are the majority landowner. 
Claimant has not responded to inquiries from Post in 2009. 
 
¶13.  (SBU)  a. Claimant I 
 
b.    2008 
 
c.    Claimant I is an American citizen and owns a 101-acre 
flower farm just north of Harare that was managed by a tenant 
farmer since 2004.  Claimant I currently resides in South 
Africa and informed Post in December 2008 that their tenant 
farmers were being forced off the farm by a group of 
individuals claiming to represent an unnamed ZANU-PF member 
of Parliament.  The group bore a final notice of acquisition 
(Section 8 Notice) for the property.  Claimant I is the only 
living title holder to the property.  In June 2009, Claimant 
I told the Embassy that an employee of the tenant farmer was 
shot and killed during the takeover. 
 
¶14.  (SBU)  a. Claimant J 
 
b.    2009 
 
c.    Claimant J is an American citizen who purchased an idle 
farm in Mutorashanga in Mashonaland West province in the mid 
1990s and revitalized the property in conjunction with two 
local partners.  Claimant J owns approximately half of the 
enterprise which includes both cattle and planted crops. 
Beginning in 2002, the niece of the President of Zimbabwe 
began demanding that Claimant J and his partners leave the 
property and periodically settled groups of people on the 
property to harass the residents.  This person had previously 
seized five other farms.  In April 2009, the local partners 
were forced off the property after being threatened with 
violence.  The settler did not present any documentation 
claiming the property and defied three local High Court 
rulings stating that Claimant J and his partners held legal 
title and had a right to remain on the farm.  The settler has 
reduced the cattle from 150 cows to 20 cows and sold valuable 
farming equipment including tractors and irrigation systems. 
 Claimant J runs a Christian NGO and divides his time between 
Florida, Maine, and various African locations.  Last contact 
with Claimant J was in June 2009. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) List of Claimant names: 
 
Claimant A: William Holmes Taylor IV and two sons, all 
American citizens, with property owned in trust by Emblehope 
Enterprises (Pvt.) Ltd., a Zimbabwean entity.  Taylor and his 
two sons are the primary beneficiaries.  No PAW signed. 
 
Claimant B: Edward Galante, an American citizen, with the 
property owned by Machera Farming Enterprises (Pvt.) Ltd., a 
Zimbabwean entity.  Galante and his two AmCit children are 
the primary beneficiaries.  No PAW signed. 
 
Claimant C: Sam and Janet Chambliss, both American citizens. 
The property is owned by Twin Springs Conservancy (Pvt.) Ltd. 
With Sam and Janet Chambliss as the sole shareholders.  No 
QWith Sam and Janet Chambliss as the sole shareholders.  No 
PAW singed. 
 
Claimant D:  Debbie Rabinovitch and minor children Diane and 
Desmond Rabinovitch, all American citizens.  The property is 
owned by a Zimbabwean trust of which Diane and Desmond are 
the beneficiaries.  No PAW signed. 
 
HARARE 00000507  005 OF 005 
 
 
 
Claimant E: Weldon and Kathy Schenck, both American citizens. 
 The property is owned by a Zimbabwean trust due to 
interrelated obligations of conservancy landowners.  No PAW 
signed. 
 
Claimant F: Terry and Joan Ryan, husband is Zimbabwean and 
wife is American citizen.  The property is owned under J.T. 
Management Consultancy (Pvt.) Ltd.  No PAW signed. 
 
Claimant G:  Lasting Impressions Wilderness Training 
Corporation, aregistered California Non-Profit Religious 
organization, which wholly owns and controls The Lasting 
Impressions Trust, a Zimbabwean entity.  Shelly Croudace, a 
director of The Lasting Impressions Trust is our contact and 
is an American citizen as well.  No PAW signed. 
 
Claimant H:  Lance Edwards, an American citizen.  It is our 
understanding the Mr. Edwards lives in Mozambique and owns a 
small share in the property.  It has been the principle 
residence of his non-American parents.  No PAW signed. 
 
Claimant I:  Patricia Dillon, an American citizen.  Ms. 
Dillon lives in South Africa and has retained Mike Smith 
(likely Zimbabwean commercial farmer) since 2004 as tenant 
farmer. No PAW signed. 
 
Claimant J:  Mike Henderson, an American citizen.  Mr. 
Henderson runs a Christian NGO and divides his time between 
Florida, Maine, and Africa.  He owns about half of a farm in 
Mutorashanga and is represented locally by attorney David 
Drury.  He and his two local partners were evicted from their 
farm by President Mugabe's niece in April 2009. No PAW signed. 
 
MCGEE