| Ivhu Kuvanhu ● Umhlabathi Ebwantini ● Land to the People |
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Unfortunately, the vital role that property rights played in underpinning the Zimbabwe economy was invisible to most people.
What was immediately apparent to any observer was the enormous and tangible contrast between the vast and lush commercial
farms and the small and dusty communal ones.
Commercial farms had secure property titles that gave farmers large incentives to efficiently manage the land and allowed a
banking sector to loan funds for machinery, irrigation pipes, seeds, and tools.
What was immediately apparent to any observer was the enormous and tangible contrast between the vast and lush commercial
farms and the small and dusty communal ones.
Commercial farms had secure property titles that gave farmers large incentives to efficiently manage the land and allowed a
banking sector to loan funds for machinery, irrigation pipes, seeds, and tools.
In early 2000, the people of Zimbabwe rejected Mugabe’s attempt to broaden the state’s confiscatory powers in a voter
referendum.A poll by the South Africa–based Helen Suzman Foundation revealed that only 9 percent of Zimbabweans said land
reform was the most important issue in the election.
When land is allocated on the basis of political patronage, this vital national asset falls into the hands of a rich elite, who are not
genuine farmers and a small section of society that support the status quo. The rest of the citizens do not benefit from this largely
partisan process. As a result, productive land is left idle and wasted. A land market and a land tax will ensure the most economic
use is made of the land, to the benefit of all Zimbabweans.
referendum.A poll by the South Africa–based Helen Suzman Foundation revealed that only 9 percent of Zimbabweans said land
reform was the most important issue in the election.
When land is allocated on the basis of political patronage, this vital national asset falls into the hands of a rich elite, who are not
genuine farmers and a small section of society that support the status quo. The rest of the citizens do not benefit from this largely
partisan process. As a result, productive land is left idle and wasted. A land market and a land tax will ensure the most economic
use is made of the land, to the benefit of all Zimbabweans.
The complexity of the land issue in Zimbabwe means it is far more than merely a legal matter. It is that in part, but it also involves
unavoidable issues of race, history, economics, politics, emotion and many others, which is why it is so intractable.
The fact of the matter is that no matter how ‘chaotic and outside the rule of law’ the expropriations were, and regardless of the
so far disastrous results, the idea of them retains much support amongst Zimbabweans across the many divides in the country. A
wholesale reversal of them is not politically tenable,
unavoidable issues of race, history, economics, politics, emotion and many others, which is why it is so intractable.
The fact of the matter is that no matter how ‘chaotic and outside the rule of law’ the expropriations were, and regardless of the
so far disastrous results, the idea of them retains much support amongst Zimbabweans across the many divides in the country. A
wholesale reversal of them is not politically tenable,
Establishment of a Land Commission
The government should establish, in terms of a revised Constitution and by an Act of Parliament, an impartial, independent and
well-resourced professional agency, known as the Land Commission. It will be vested with clearly defined powers and the
authority to fulfil its mandate of formulating, planning and co-ordinating the implementation of an all-inclusive, orderly and well-
planned land reform and settlement programme, with a limited life-span to complete its mission. Commissioners will be drawn
from persons with a keen insight into land policies; experts with knowledge and experience in valuation, finance and agriculture;
as well as the technical abilities to manage an effective and sustainable land reform process. The Commission will report directly
to Parliament, through the appropriate standing
parliamentary committee. Once a Land Commission Bill has been drafted, it will be subject to stakeholder scrutiny before being
submitted to Parliament. The Act under which the Commission will be founded will have a limited life-span. After six years the
Act will expire unless Parliament decides to extend it for a further three years. This will enable Parliament to review or revamp the
mandate of the Land Commission, or simply end the Commission once the land question had been brought to closure.
The Commission’s functions will be to:
° Carry out a land audit that includes a survey of farms that have been occupied since January 2000; a legal study to untie the
legal knots created by the abuse of executive power; and a review of the capacity of institutions participating in the
implementation of the land reform programme.
Land Audit
A land audit of settlement and production on former commercial farms The Land Commission should carry out a land audit as a
matter of urgency. This audit will consist of a farm settlement survey to document the acquisition process and the
occupation of commercial farms under the ‘fast track’ programme, and a legal study to bring an authoritative judicial opinion to
bear on the legality of that possession. An independent land audit is the cornerstone on which a successful agricultural recovery
and land reform programme can be built. It will provide essential information for the proper planning and implementation of
the resettlement programme and to inform compensation claims for land, improvements and consequential damages. The land
audit has two complementary components. The first is a farm settlement survey to establish the extent of subdivision and
settlement, the physical status of farms, and how these are being utilised. The second is a legal study to establish the
constitutionality and legality of settlement and to clarify the legal status of commercial farmers, settlers, and the land they
ostensibly own or occupy.
A farm settlement survey to document the land acquisition process and the occupation of commercial farms A professional and
impartial survey of farms is required to gather relevant and reliable data on settlement under the fast track programme. This will
enable the Commission to arrive at informed decisions for the rationalisation and co-development exercise,
discussed below. The survey will also prove an invaluable planning tool and a platform for crafting a land reform programme.
The main tasks of the farm settlement survey are to:
° Gather reliable information to create a database of all commercial farms by updating and verifying information on a digitised
mapping programme.
° Capture and verify the main physical and legal attributes of each farm: its name, owner, title deed description, location, size,
natural region, main land uses and other relevant on-farm data; and consolidate and classify the information (e.g. number of
farms occupied).
° Establish and record accurately the sequence of legal measures and illegal action taken on each commercial farm as part of the
fast track land acquisition and settlement process; specifically identifying those farms that were illegitimately acquired, those
whose acquisition has been finalised by the Administrative Court, and those that have been transferred to new black farmers.
° Determine how, when and which farmers lost their land, and how, when and by whom the land was taken over, specifying
the number, identity and details of new settlers, multiple farm owners, those farmers willing and able to continue farming, and
those eligible for compensation.
° Establish, in conjunction with the legal study (below), the ownership and status of the farm, defining the rights of those in
possession of each farm, the rights of the titleholder, and the rights of the state.
° Assess the extent of land utilisation by occupiers of each farm and which land is ‘vacant’.
The government should establish, in terms of a revised Constitution and by an Act of Parliament, an impartial, independent and
well-resourced professional agency, known as the Land Commission. It will be vested with clearly defined powers and the
authority to fulfil its mandate of formulating, planning and co-ordinating the implementation of an all-inclusive, orderly and well-
planned land reform and settlement programme, with a limited life-span to complete its mission. Commissioners will be drawn
from persons with a keen insight into land policies; experts with knowledge and experience in valuation, finance and agriculture;
as well as the technical abilities to manage an effective and sustainable land reform process. The Commission will report directly
to Parliament, through the appropriate standing
parliamentary committee. Once a Land Commission Bill has been drafted, it will be subject to stakeholder scrutiny before being
submitted to Parliament. The Act under which the Commission will be founded will have a limited life-span. After six years the
Act will expire unless Parliament decides to extend it for a further three years. This will enable Parliament to review or revamp the
mandate of the Land Commission, or simply end the Commission once the land question had been brought to closure.
The Commission’s functions will be to:
° Carry out a land audit that includes a survey of farms that have been occupied since January 2000; a legal study to untie the
legal knots created by the abuse of executive power; and a review of the capacity of institutions participating in the
implementation of the land reform programme.
Land Audit
A land audit of settlement and production on former commercial farms The Land Commission should carry out a land audit as a
matter of urgency. This audit will consist of a farm settlement survey to document the acquisition process and the
occupation of commercial farms under the ‘fast track’ programme, and a legal study to bring an authoritative judicial opinion to
bear on the legality of that possession. An independent land audit is the cornerstone on which a successful agricultural recovery
and land reform programme can be built. It will provide essential information for the proper planning and implementation of
the resettlement programme and to inform compensation claims for land, improvements and consequential damages. The land
audit has two complementary components. The first is a farm settlement survey to establish the extent of subdivision and
settlement, the physical status of farms, and how these are being utilised. The second is a legal study to establish the
constitutionality and legality of settlement and to clarify the legal status of commercial farmers, settlers, and the land they
ostensibly own or occupy.
A farm settlement survey to document the land acquisition process and the occupation of commercial farms A professional and
impartial survey of farms is required to gather relevant and reliable data on settlement under the fast track programme. This will
enable the Commission to arrive at informed decisions for the rationalisation and co-development exercise,
discussed below. The survey will also prove an invaluable planning tool and a platform for crafting a land reform programme.
The main tasks of the farm settlement survey are to:
° Gather reliable information to create a database of all commercial farms by updating and verifying information on a digitised
mapping programme.
° Capture and verify the main physical and legal attributes of each farm: its name, owner, title deed description, location, size,
natural region, main land uses and other relevant on-farm data; and consolidate and classify the information (e.g. number of
farms occupied).
° Establish and record accurately the sequence of legal measures and illegal action taken on each commercial farm as part of the
fast track land acquisition and settlement process; specifically identifying those farms that were illegitimately acquired, those
whose acquisition has been finalised by the Administrative Court, and those that have been transferred to new black farmers.
° Determine how, when and which farmers lost their land, and how, when and by whom the land was taken over, specifying
the number, identity and details of new settlers, multiple farm owners, those farmers willing and able to continue farming, and
those eligible for compensation.
° Establish, in conjunction with the legal study (below), the ownership and status of the farm, defining the rights of those in
possession of each farm, the rights of the titleholder, and the rights of the state.
° Assess the extent of land utilisation by occupiers of each farm and which land is ‘vacant’.
The government’s Land Audit Report (2003) by Flora Buka, the then Minister of State for the Land Reform Programme, identified
three key problems:
i) the displacement of newly resettled farmers by powerful political elites;
ii) multiple ownership of farms by these elites;
iii) huge swathes of highly productive farmland that had not been allocated and was therefore lying idle. Confronted by a lack of
fuel, high transport costs and hyper-inflation, it seems likely that hundreds of highly productive former commercial farms will
continue to lie idle. Yet, this has still not stayed the heavy hand of government from acquiring still more productive commercial
farms.
three key problems:
i) the displacement of newly resettled farmers by powerful political elites;
ii) multiple ownership of farms by these elites;
iii) huge swathes of highly productive farmland that had not been allocated and was therefore lying idle. Confronted by a lack of
fuel, high transport costs and hyper-inflation, it seems likely that hundreds of highly productive former commercial farms will
continue to lie idle. Yet, this has still not stayed the heavy hand of government from acquiring still more productive commercial
farms.
| An Independent Agrarian Reform Watchdog |
| Equitable Redistribution of Land to all Zimbabweans |
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| © 2008 OneManOneFarm.org - the agrarian reform advocacy watchdog 1515 North Town East Boulevard, Suite 138-119,Mesquite TX 75150 | Email:info@onemanonefarm.org |