The United States Congress is considering a proposed law that could see Washington repealing its two-decades-old sanctions on Zimbabwe—if the southern African country keeps its promises to compensate dispossessed white farmers.

Zimbabwe has been under sanctions from the US since 2001 after the regime of the late Robert Mugabe seized commercial farms from the minority white population for redistribution to landless blacks.

More than 5,000 white Zimbabweans lost their farms in the often-violent repossessions led by veterans of the country’s 1970s liberation war.

Successive US presidents renewed the long-standing Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) every year like a ritual, but there are indications that President Donald Trump’s administration is ready to change course.

The US Congress’ House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida, has introduced an omnibus Bill proposing the Department of State Policy Provisions Act.

“The US shall not support any new or expanded funding from the International Monetary Fund or the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (commonly known as the World Bank) for the government of Zimbabwe unless the government of Zimbabwe shall commit within 12 months of the approval of such new or expanded funding, to remit all outstanding arrears owed under the Global Compensation Deed, inflation adjusted to the date of enactment, and compensation shall not be in the form of Zimbabwe issued securities,” reads part of the Bill.“Failure to comply with this provision shall result in an immediate cessation of all United States support for any further funding from these institutions.”Five years ago, Zimbabwe reached an agreement with the white farmers to pay them compensation worth $3.5 billion for improvements on the seized farms, and not the land itself.

In April this year, the government approved payment for the first group of 378 farmers who are set to receive $311 million, but only one percent of the compensation was to be paid in cash.

The rest of the compensation would be paid through Treasury bonds, whose maturities range from between two to 10 years.

Zimbabwe said the agreement with the commercial farmers was part of an African Development Bank-led arears clearance plan.

The country is $21 billion in debt and wants to negotiate with creditor countries for a deal to clear the arrears for it to qualify for new World Bank and International Monetary Fund support.

ZDERA barred US officials at institutions such as the World Bank and IMF from approving any new lending or debt relief to Zimbabwe “until property rights and democracy were restored.”President Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba described the proposed US law as a major development for Zimbabwe after two decades of sanctions.

This is a major development for our country,” Mr Charamba posted. “Really big, if it comes through as it looks likely. It is not easy to get America to rescind a law with bipartisan support.“Both the Republicans and Democorats supported ZDERA, making it a consensual American law against Zimbabwe.“It has been with us – a huge albatross since 2001 – augmented by similar laws in Europe and its vicarious applications in various jurisdictions, which genuflected to punitive American sanctions in practice.”Besides the US, the European Union (EU), Australia, Canada and New Zeeland imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe at the time citing alleged electoral fraud and human rights violations.

Brussels now only maintains an arms embargo against Zimbabwe, which makes the US sanctions the harshest.

Last year, the US imposed new sanctions on eight Zimbabwean individuals, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his wife under the Global Magnitsky Act, following allegations of corruption and human rights abuses. Three businesses linked to people close to the president were also sanctioned.

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