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Farmers unions have welcomed the changes to the country’s land tenure system that were announced by the government on Tuesday.
Under the reformed system, beneficiaries of the land reform programme will now receive a bankable, registrable, and transferable document of tenure from the government.
The government said that these adjustments will unlock the full value of the land and boost the country’s overall economic performance.
In an interview with <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/land-tenure-overhaul-heralds-new-era-for-farmers/">The Herald</a>, the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) Secretary General said the new model will enable farmers to access capital from financial institutions. Said Zakariya:
<blockquote>
I think this settles a matter that has been long outstanding, the need for farmlands to be used as security for all agricultural borrowings or for borrowings related to farm development, including agricultural production.
So, over the last two decades, farmers were securing loans using properties outside the farmlands and that was not sustainable.
Number one, because of the size of the borrowings for instance, if you are using a house, that house would not secure a long-term asset.
So, before, the values were very low, because the assets outside the farms were also not carrying so much, you can imagine someone using their house in Budiriro to develop a commercial farm somewhere.
The transferability of land gives comfort to financiers, that if anyone, by any means, defaults on their loans, the bank now has a fallback, which means the debt can actually be financed by somebody else and the firm then transfers ownership to whoever may have financed the debt.
So, this is a game changer in terms of unlocking value on our land under the Land Reform Programme. And indeed other lands too. They had lost the value completely. They had zero value. Now, this restores value, the value of land.
</blockquote>
Zimbabwe Indigenous Women Farmers Association Trust (ZWIFAT) president Depinah Nkomo said the new land tenure system will allow farmers to develop infrastructure on their farms. She said:
<blockquote>
Now we will be very confident especially us women because we will be able to access financing and we will also be able to transfer ownership as stipulated.
Before this development, we were not even confident to build proper infrastructure on our land so the President has heard our cry and as women, we are very happy we can now start our projects confidently and freely because we will now have that security.
</blockquote>
Economist Prosper Chitambara, speaking to <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200033401/new-land-laws-biggest-heist">NewsDay</a>, said the changes to the land tenure system are important not only for the land itself but also for Zimbabwe’s broader economic development. He said:
<blockquote>
I think it is critical in terms of ensuring the productive utilisation of the land and also unlocking full value, private sector investment and finance from private financial institutions while allowing land to be transferable.
That is one of the things a lot of scholars and observers have been advocating. I think that is the way to go to unlock the full value of land in Zimbabwe.
</blockquote>
Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ) president Lawrence Nyazema said that while the new land tenure system provides farmers with more secure and transferable land rights, banks will still need to see evidence of sound business plans and the ability to generate steady income streams. Said Nyazema:
<blockquote>
Land is not as collateral that a farmer can walk into a bank requesting a loan because he or she has land. A farmer must have a project that generates money.
It is very difficult for a farmer to just approach a bank and ask for money just because they have the land. If he or she fails to pay for the loan, the bank should be able remove them from the land.
It is prudent for the farmers to come up with project proposals that they can develop to make sure that they are able to access the funds and repay the loans.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

Farmers' unions are happy about changes to land ownership. Now, farmers will get official documents for their land from the government. This will help them get loans to improve their farms. Women farmers are especially excited about building on their land. Economists think these changes are good for the economy too. Banks say farmers need to have good plans to get loans, not just land. Everyone agrees that these changes will make a big difference for farmers and the country's economy.

Farmers' Unions Hail Land Tenure Reforms As Game-Changer For Agricultural Sector

The Zimbabwean government announced a significant change to its land policy, permitting beneficiaries of past land reforms to sell or transfer their farms, but exclusively to “indigenous Zimbabweans.”
Speaking to the media after a cabinet meeting in Harare on Tuesday, October 8, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Jenfan Muswere, said that the new policy aims to “unlock value” and will provide farmers who benefited from the 2000 land reforms with a “bankable, registrable, and transferable document of tenure.”
The government has also implemented an indefinite moratorium on the issuance of new 99-year leases or permits for agricultural land.
This announcement may indicate the conclusion of Zimbabwe’s contentious land reform programme, which involved the seizure of land from white owners and its redistribution to indigenous blacks.
Below is the announcement by Muswere in full:
<blockquote>
The land reform programme was carried out for the purpose of divesting ownership of agricultural land from the minority white farmers to the black majority people of Zimbabwe.
The rationale of the land reform was to address the inequalities that existed during the colonial era and to ensure that every Zimbabwean had equitable access to his finite resource.
The constitution and other legislative provisions that deal with the administration of agricultural land have mechanisms and safeguards to ensure that the legacy and benefits of the land reform are protected and land reform is irreversible.
The noticeable new paradigm amongst Zimbabwean farmers, especially the majority of beneficiaries of land reform, is to regard and conduct farming as a business; as a source of both livelihood and means to increasing personal economic value. Our young people have positively embraced the land reform programme and now account for a significant proportion of the country’s commercial farmers.
The government has since 2008 put in place various programmes to assist farmers to be productive on the land. The support includes the Baccossi Inputs and Mechanisation Equipment; Maguta and the Special Grains Import Substitution Programme among others.
In the second republic, the country has witnessed and benefited from the government’s deliberate and complementary policy of incorporating accelerated infrastructure development which includes road construction and rehabilitation incorporating the much needed rural roads; dam construction; irrigation and housing development.
While our people are endowed with agricultural land resulting from progressive government policies, they continue to grapple with the following challenges:
1. Difficulty in accessing affordable, appropriately structured and adequate finance for sustainable commercial agriculture.
2. In the absence of security of tenure, the farmers are not sufficiently motivated to invest adequately and to develop robust infrastructure on their farms to enhance sustainable production.
3. The threat to land tenure, especially to successors entitled to land held by beneficiaries of the land reform programme (such as children or war veterans) arising from inheritance and fraudulent succession issues.
4. While the government conceived and implemented these positive programmes, there have been varying levels of accountability from the farmers with a significant proportion of the farmers feeling no obligation to pay back loans advanced.
Consequently, the government has remained saddled with debt emanating from unpaid agricultural loans by many farmers.
5. The menace of land barons who have little or no regard for our town and country planning laws and policies has put a strain on the local authorities’ infrastructure. The land barons develop haphazard and unplanned settlements with no basic services such as water, electricity, sewer reticulation and storm water drainage.
Against this background and in line with section 292 of the constitution read together with sections 289, 293 and 294 that obligates the state to give security of tenure to every person and to alienate for value agricultural land among other requirements, the government will implement the following measures:
1. All land held by beneficiaries of the land reform programme under 99-year leases; offer letters and permits will now be held under a bankable, registrable and transferable document of tenure to be issued by the government of Zimbabwe to beneficiaries. As such, beneficiries of the land reform programme will now have enhanced security of tenure to the land they legitimately hold.
This new policy will invariably be informed by the following guidelines:
a) Priority will be given to veterans of the liberation struggle, women and youths.
b) Security of tenure to all agricultural land regularised under this programme will at all times only be transferable among indigenous Zimbabwe.
c) The land targeted for the new land tenure system will exclude communal land that is under the jurisdiction of traditional chiefs.
2. Urban land will only be made commercially available to credible and approved land developers who will add value to the land in compliance with all relevant laws and protocols. Ultimately, the goal is to establish high quality housing developments in fulfilment of our vision of an upper-middle income society by 2030. Areas that are not in use within cities will be considered for development. Urban renewal, urban transformation and regularisation will also be given priority.
These agricultural and urban land measures will have a huge impact on our economic growth, and will unlock the full value of the land while enhancing the performance of our economy. This will facilitate accelerated investments in agriculture and associated value chains which include irrigation, dam construction, power supply and rural road construction.
The economic value enhancement on land will further unlock resources for the fulfilment of constitutional obligations related to land reform. All these measures will complement current efforts towards an upper middle income economy, which will be achieved by 2030.
The president has constituted a cabinet oversight committee chaired by defence minister Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri to lead this reform process.
A technical committee – the Land Tenure Implementation Committee (LTIC) – to coordinate and steer the implementation of this process will also be constituted.
These committees will work diligently to develop improved security of tenure for land beneficiaries, while ensuring that value of agricultural and urban state land is fully unlocked to guarantee inclusive and nationwide economic development. Detailed terms of reference have been developed for the two committees.
Accordingly, the government hereby issues an indefinite moratorium on the issuance of any new 99-year leases or permits for agricultural land.
In conclusion, the government remains committed to jealously safeguarding the gains of the liberation struggle including our precious land and everything beneath it. Never again will our land fall back into the hands of our erstwhile colonisers. The utilisation of this land will be guided by our time-tested mantra: Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo/Ilizwe Lakhiwa Ngabanikazi Balo.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

The Zimbabwean government is allowing farmers who benefited from past land reforms to sell their land, but only to indigenous Zimbabweans. This new policy aims to provide farmers with a bankable document of tenure. The government has also stopped issuing new 99-year leases for agricultural land. The announcement may mark the end of the land reform program that took land from white owners and gave it to black Zimbabweans. The government wants to help farmers be productive, face challenges, and improve the economy. Committees will work on implementing the new policy, which aims to unlock the economic value of land and achieve an upper middle income economy by 2030.

Zimbabwe Government Eases Land Policy: Resettled Farmers Can Now Sell Land To Indigenous Blacks

Renowned Zimbabwean journalist and filmmaker Hopewell Chin’ono says the country’s land reform programme, which was accelerated by the Robert Mugabe administration around 2000, needs to be redone.
Chin’ono said that productive farmers should receive land, rather than allowing politically connected individuals to acquire large tracts of land that they subsequently lease out.
Chin’ono’s remarks came in response to a statement issued on Tuesday, October 1, by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi concerning allegations that community members invaded Strathmore Farm in Banket and stole potatoes.
Commissioner Nyathi said the farm belongs to Retired High Court Judge Vernanda Cecil Ziyambi and is currently leased to Jonathan Timothy Mackwade for potato farming.
He also said preliminary investigations suggest the farm manager authorised farm workers and locals to collect damaged potatoes from the harvested field the day after the harvest was completed.
In his comments, Chin’ono asserted that land is currently held by the wrong people and should be reallocated to those who will use it productively. Wrote Chin’ono on X:
<blockquote>
To my South African friends and followers on this timeline who are always asking me why Zimbabweans come to South Africa to do menial jobs when they have land in Zimbabwe. Below is your answer.
What you are reading in the document in the quoted tweet (statement by Commissioner Nyathi) explains what went wrong with land reform in Zimbabwe.
Land is given to those connected to ZANU-PF, but they are not necessarily farmers.
They then rent the farms to white farmers who were kicked off the land, so what happened in Zimbabwe is not land reform, but thugs taking over land and renting it out instead of giving it to people with expertise to use it.
In a normal society, a judge who is not a farmer would not have been given land only to rent it out to the real farmer. 
This makes food in Zimbabwe more expensive because the farmer has to pay rent to someone who produces nothing and got the land for free without paying a penny.
Judges receive these farms as a thank you for passing illegal rulings against the regime’s political opponents! 
Land is in the hands of the wrong people. 
If the real farmer had been given access to this state land, the cost of potatoes would be cheaper because they wouldn’t have to factor in rent paid to the “farmer-owner.”
Land reform will have to be redone in Zimbabwe in a way that is sustainable, fair, and economic. 
What ZANU PF did is akin to invading a plane without knowing how to fly it, then asking the pilot to use it for a while in exchange for rentals.
The real farmer can’t develop the farm because it is not in their name, as they can be kicked off by the official owner.
Land is in the hands of a ZANUPF mafia that charges protection fees/rentals to white farmers to allow them to continue farming.
This practice perpetuates historical inequalities and has negative economic consequences for the country.
The cost of food production rises due to this added layer of rent, and the overall productivity of the agricultural sector suffers because experienced farmers are not given the opportunity to fully utilise their skills and resources.
A sustainable and equitable land reform process would prioritise allocating land to those with the knowledge and experience to use it effectively.
This would not only improve agricultural productivity but also help address historical injustices and empower previously disadvantaged communities.
Today, the majority of the previously disadvantaged are still disadvantaged. I was one of the top three Boer goat breeders in Zimbabwe from around 2015 doing it at my ancestral plot.
A former governor for Mashonaland East asked me to join ZANUPF if I wanted land. Of course, I politely said no.
The judge can’t own land, it is state land. She has a lease, and because she is part of the ruling elite, she can rent it out and make money from something she didn’t pay a penny for. Her husband, Tarisai Ziyambi, was also a government minister.
If people who can produce and have the production expertise have to beg people who can’t produce for land, it is a Banana Republic. Zimbabwe is a crime scene!!!!
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Zimbabwe needs to redo land reform because wrong people have land. Land is given to politically connected people who rent it out. This makes farming more expensive and lowers productivity. The real farmers are not given a chance to use the land effectively. Land reform should be fair and give land to those who can use it well. Currently, those with expertise in farming are overlooked. Hopewell Chin'ono says land reform should be redone in a way that helps everyone, not just a few people.

Zimbabwe’s Land Reform Programme Must Be Redone - Chin'ono

Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) candidate for Chirumhanzi South Constituency in the 2023 harmonised elections, Patrick Cheza has appealed to the Supreme Court against a ruling by the High Court giving the Government permission to evict him from his farm.
The Mirror reported that Cheza is the only one among 61 farmers allocated the land who is being evicted.
The prominent Gweru businessman is represented by Nyasha Maguranyanga of Mutendi, Mudisi and Shumba. In his appeal at the Supreme Court, Cheza said:
<blockquote>
1. The court a quo erred in holding that the Appellant’s confirmation of land occupation did not confer a prima facie right to the farm In question whereas the same legally confer a right of land occupation in favour of the Appellant.
2. The court a quo erred in making a finding that the Appellant had no right to be consulted and heard by the 19 Respondent before being evicted from the farm in question as an illegal settler, whereas the Appellant at law is entitled to be consulted and heard before any adverse decision is taken against him.
3. The Court a quo erred at law in making a finding that Appellant’s eviction from the farm was legal whereas the same was unconstitutional.
</blockquote>
Cheza is being evicted from his 250-hectare farm by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development.
According to The Mirror, Cheza was allocated the farm which is located near Mvuma under the land redistribution programme. He is now losing investments worth US$200 000.
His farm is said to be one of the most developed under the scheme with greenhouses, boreholes, solar power systems, 105 herd of cattle, 56 high-breed goats, and sheep and 50 full-time workers.
The farm is already being subdivided into smaller plots and the beneficiaries are members of the Joint Operations Command (JOC).
Cheza’s appeal was thrown out by High Court Judge, Justice Mawadze who said the courts have no power over the matter and told him to plead with the Minister.
Justice Mawadze however, conceded in his opening remarks that land issues in Zimbabwe are very emotive and vexing.
The Minister of Lands’s Permanent Secretary Obert Jiri was reported as saying Cheza will not be compensated for developments he made on the farm.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

CCC Candidate, Patrick Cheza, Fights For His Farm In The Supreme Court

Prominent Gweru businessman, Patrick Cheza, who was the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) candidate for Chirumhanzi South in the 2023 general elections is being evicted from his 250-hectare farm by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development.
According to The Mirror, Cheza was allocated the farm which is located near Mvuma under the land redistribution programme. He is now losing investments worth US$200 000.
Cheza, who was detained for several weeks during last year’s elections, is reported to be the only farmer out of 61 under the same scheme who is being evicted.
He was accused of assaulting ZANU PF Barbra Rwodzi following an argument over an accident which had occurred along Chaka‐Charandura Road in Chirumhanzu.
His farm is one of the most developed under the scheme with greenhouses, boreholes, solar power systems, 105 herd of cattle, 56 high-breed goats, and sheep and 50 full-time workers.
The Mirror further reported that Cheza’s farm is already being subdivided into smaller plots and the beneficiaries are members of the Joint Operations Command (JOC).
Cheza’s appeal was thrown out by High Court Judge, Justice Mawadze who said the courts have no power over the matter and told him to plead with the Minister.
Justice Mawadze however, conceded in his opening remarks that land issues in Zimbabwe are very emotive and vexing.
The Minister of Lands’s Permanent Secretary Obert Jiri was reported as saying Cheza will not be compensated for developments he made on the farm.
The seizure of Cheza’s farm shows the total lack of security of tenure in the country’s laws and that it is risky for businesspeople to associate with opposition parties as they can easily lose their hard-earned investments to “the system” with nowhere to seek justice.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Former CCC Parliamentary Candidate, Patrick Cheza, Evicted From 250-hectare Farm

Harare East MP, Tendai Biti (CCC), has said the government must give war veterans title deeds of farms they acquired during the Land Reform Programme, reported <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/whites-commercial-interests-dominating-zimbabwe-says-biti-urges-govt-to-give-war-vets-farms-title-deeds/">NewZimbabwe.com</a>.
Biti said the majority of war veterans are wallowing in poverty and have nothing to show for their contribution to the country’s liberation.
Debating in the National Assembly on Thursday, Biti argued that the ex-combatants should not be given offer letters which have no security. He said:
<blockquote>
The first thing we need to do is to give title deeds to war veterans of the farms that they acquired. You cannot make them subject to the offer letter.
The greatest service we can do to war veterans, number one is to give them title deeds to the farms that they benefitted from as a result of the Land Reform Programme.
The offer letter is non-securitised and in breach of Chapter 16 of the Constitution. The offer letter, just like their constituencies, can go just like the wind – bhururu bhururu, yabhururuka seshiri.
</blockquote>
When Biti said war veterans’ “constituencies, can go just like the wind”, he was referring to Buhera South MP Joseph Chinotimba who led the farm invasions in 2000 and recently lost his constituency in the ZANU PF primaries. He added:
<blockquote>
Let us give them security of tenure kuti chanoti chandakarwirawo ndechichi. Chandinosiirawo vazukuru vangu ndechichi, that land and if we say the basis of the Land Reform Programme was the land, then the basis of the reward of the war veteran must be the land.
That should be the starting point. Why are we afraid to give war collaborators the land? Let us give them title deeds.
Land was the basis of the liberation struggle and hence ownership of it is deemed to have the potential of socially and economically empower veterans and their dependents.
</blockquote>
Around the year 2000, Zimbabwe embarked on a fast-track land reform programme which was largely violent in nature.
Vast tracks of land were seized from white farmers and parcelled among landless black families.
However, the chaotic nature of the programme has been blamed for Zimbabwe’s economic challenges as production on farms collapsed and western countries imposed sanctions on the country.
More: <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200009522/ed-demands-re-run-in-violence-hotspots">Pindula News</a>

Biti Challenges Govt To Give War Veterans Title Deeds For Farms

Resettled farmers have defied a directive to submit annual production returns, reported <a href="https://businesstimes.co.zw/farmers-defy-govt/">Business Times</a>.
The government plans to use the annual production returns as a basis to issue A1 permits and 99-year leases for A2.
Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Anxious Masuka recommended that a Statutory Instrument (SI) should be gazetted to enforce the directive. He said:
<blockquote>
We recommend that the annual production and productivity returns should be (done) to guide production and investment. An SI should be issued to make it mandatory for A1 and A2 farmers to submit these annual returns.
This (submission of returns) is an audit on how the farmers are utilising their land, which will decide whether they deserve to have the entire farms to themselves or should share with others or even be moved to smaller land portions that they can fully utilise.
</blockquote>
In 2021, the government threatened to remove all the farmers who fail to submit the returns forms but farmers have not complied with the directive.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) president Shadreck Makombe called on farmers to submit the returns forms as required. He said:
<blockquote>
We urge all farmers, be it A1 or A2, to submit the annual production and productivity return forms on time to fast-track the issuance of securitised documents.
All farmers should submit and you never know the day when others will get the securitised documents.
</blockquote>
In March 2022, Masuka said the returns will be used to assess if they qualify to be issued with a 99-year lease.
More: <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200009522/ed-demands-re-run-in-violence-hotspots">Pindula News</a>

Farmers Defy Govt Directive To Submit Annual Production Returns

The Zimbabwe Land and Agrarian Network (ZiLAN) has urged the government to respect the land rights of the beneficiaries of the land reform programme.
This follows reports that more than 3 000 resettled families face eviction from their land at a Chegutu farm to pave way for a platinum project by a private firm, Global Platinum Resources.
In a statement on Tuesday, ZiLAN called on the government to consult the farmers and agree on appropriate compensation measures with them before they are relocated. Said the group:
<blockquote>
The Zimbabwe Land and Agrarian Network (ZiLAN), in its traditional Annual Policy meeting held on the 24th of November 2022, deliberated on various policy issues and their implications on smallholder farmers.
As a network working with smallholder farmers in pursuit of land rights and the advancement of socio-economic status noted a disturbing trend of threats of evictions and /or actual evictions of smallholder farmers in communal and resettlement areas to pave way for investments in various forms.
Information received from smallholder farmers across the country points out that in most cases the affected communities are excluded or inadequately consulted while in some cases farmers have been displaced without receiving commensurate compensation.
… From our ongoing engagements with key stakeholders involved, the community in question has not been adequately consulted with regard to the development.
As we monitor the situation closely, it is our firm belief that this development infringes on the fundamental rights and freedoms of people as set out in Section 72 of the Zimbabwe Constitution.
While cognisant of the fact that development will always result in the inevitable loss of land by communities, the network calls for the following to ensure that the land rights of people are protected and upheld; we therefore implore that; due diligence, due process, transparency and accountability be followed in all land matters that have the potential to affect livelihoods.
… In cases of eviction, compensation should be agreed on and honored through inclusive processes for the benefit of all parties concerned.
Respect for people’s cultural and spiritual practices be upheld.
Compensation should not only be about resettlement but restitution.
</blockquote>

Thousands Of Land Reform Beneficiaries Face Eviction

Former Finance Minister and current MDC Alliance vice president Tendai Biti said the leasing out of farms to former white farmers by resettled indigenous farmers had made the lad reform programme “a joke”.
Posting on Twitter this Saturday, Biti said land reform created a black landowning rentier class whose only purpose is to extract rent from land.
He said the parasitic class of landlords should be eradicated through an urgent land audit and the seating white tenants must be given offer letters on the “one household, one farm” principle. Wrote Biti:
<blockquote>A cursory study of the land reform process across the country will show the massive and extensive existence of leases of land to former white farmers.
Mashonaland West Province and the Midlands have the highest number of white lessees. That being the case land reform is now a joke.
The creation of a black landowning rentier class whose sole function is to extract rent from land is a negation of the land reform program.
It is a true reflection of how lost and how vacuous Zanu under Emmerson has become. This parasitic class of landlords must be expunged.
An urgent land audit is required to root out these parasites. The seating white tenants must be given offer letters on a one household one farm principle.
More importantly, the black parasitic landlords must pay and fund the US$ 3.5 billion in compensation to whites. Zanu is pathetic.</blockquote>

Parasitic Landowners Have Made Land Reform A Joke - Biti

Philemon Matibe, a Zimbabwean who returned home after living in the United States of America for 20 years, has turned three abandoned farms in Odzi into a greenbelt.
Matibe told NewsDay that he had invested almost half a million United States dollars in the three farms he is leasing since his return a year ago.
<blockquote>Matibe said produces crops such as tobacco and wheat and employs nearly 200 people at the peak of the farming season. He said:
I was in America for the past 20 years and as a family, we decided to come back. We looked around for derelict and underutilised farms.
We decided to go ahead and invest in the rehabilitation of these farms since I was convinced of the sincerity of the new dispensation.
When you do farming, you need to be hands-on. This is the reason why I spent most of my time monitoring what will be happening at the farms.
I invested almost half a million United States dollars in the farming projects. At the peak of the farming season, we employ almost 200 workers who are all on full salary.</blockquote>
Matibe said his main challenge is vandalism of irrigation equipment and he has deployed security team around the clock to protect the equipment.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/2020/11/returning-resident-turns-wasteland-into-greenbelt/">NewsDay</a></h4>

Former Diasporan Turns Derelict Farms Into Greenbelt

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has asserted that the Land Reform Programme is irreversible and what the Government is doing now is implementing the dictates of the Constitution.
President Mnangagwa was addressing members of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) at State House on Friday when he made the remarks. He said:
<blockquote>Let me restate that the Land Reform Programme is irreversible. To this end, there is no vacillation.
The current processes with regards to land issues entail the implementation of provisions of our national Constitution, in particular, Section 295 as it relates to black indigenous Zimbabweans.
I urge all farmers to remain focused on preparing for a successful 2020-2021 season.</blockquote>
This comes after the government recently pledged to restore farms to white former commercial farmers whose land was expropriated during the chaotic land reform.
The farmers whose title to land could be restored are those who were protected by bilateral agreements between Zimbabwe and their Governments.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/president-speaks-on-land/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Herald</a></h4>

Land Reform Programme Irreversible - ED

Nigerian journalist, Uddin Ifeanyi, says economic nationalism often has dire consequences for African countries, with Uganda under the late Idi Amin, and Zimbabwe under the late Robert Mugabe being good examples.
Writing for the Premium Times, a Nigerian publication, Ifeanyi says during times of economic difficulty, African governments tend to peddle the narrative that local economic interests are being hurt by the predatory and rapacious activity of foreigners.
Consequently, across the continent, governments then resort to imposing severe restraints on the activities of resident non-nationals, or simply kicking them out.
In Uganda, Amin kicked out Indians, with most of them migrating to Britain where they are now run successful businesses while in Zimbabwe, Mugabe kicked out white farmers, and some of them are now thriving in Zambia. Ifeanyi writes:
<blockquote>In Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF hacks ― again, more brutal than competent ― took over the farms after their white owners had been forced out.
The success of the Gujarati community in Britain, following their expulsion from Uganda is mirrored by the collapse of the Ugandan economy thereafter.
The same way that the white Zimbabwean farmers’ continued success across the border in Zambia mirrors the failure of the Zimbabwean economy.</blockquote>
On Monday, the Zimbabwean government announced that it was open to revoking offer letters given to resettled black farmers and give the back land to foreign former landowners.
<h4>More: <a href="https://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2020/08/31/the-perils-of-economic-nationalism-by-uddin-ifeanyi/">Premium Times</a></h4>

Zimbabwe's Failed Land Reform Proof Of The Perils Of Economic Nationalism - Analyst

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is facing increasing criticism for its decision to take land from some resettled black families and give it back to white former commercial farmers.
MDC Alliance vice president, Tendai Biti, who was Finance Minister between 2009 and 2013, said the government’s pledge to compensate the white former farmers under the signed Global Compensation Deed is not only unconstitutional but a huge betrayal of the liberation struggle.
Biti believes that taking away land from indigenous people who have been resettled for two decades may result in conflict and instability. He said:
<blockquote>A careful perusal of the regime s statement on land shows beyond reasonable doubt that regime is now in the process of reversal of the land reform program. This conscious process started with the Land for Land compensation Regulations SI 62 2020,then the Global Compensation Deed.
Regime s proposal to restore land to former owners or where it is not possible to compensate same on same terms as the GCA is not only unconstitutional but a huge betrayal of the liberation struggle. More than that any attempt to reverse land reform is inviting instability and conflict.
The latest betrayal confirms Emmerson as the biggest threat to the stability, freedom and prosperity of Zimbabwe. A dangerous , ideologically vacuous element now busy uprooting the constitution, rule of law and gains of the liberation struggle. [Herbert] Chitepo, [Joshua] Nkomo et al are puking in their graves.</blockquote>
A joint statement issued by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement and the Minister of Finance and Economic Development on 31 August, read in part:
<blockquote>… Government has already provided that those former farm owners can apply in writing to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement for the restoration of title to the piece of agricultural land that was compulsorily acquired from them for resettlement.
Government will grant their applications where the circumstances presently obtaining on the ground permit the restoration of their land to them.
In this regard, in order to allow former farm owners in this category to regain possession of the pieces of land that were acquired from them, Government will, in the appropirate circumstances, revoke the offer letters of resettled farmers currently occupying those pieces of land and offer them alternative land elsewhere.</blockquote>

Biti Criticises Government's Reversal Of Land Reform

Zimbabwe’s Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Perrance_Shiri" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Perrance Shiri</a> on Friday rejected claims that the government is seeking to return the land to white former farmers who lost farms during the controversial <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Land_Ownership_and_Land_Reform_in_Zimbabwe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Land Reform Programme</a>.
Shiri was speaking following claims from some Legislators that the recently gazetted Statutory Instrument 62 (SI 62) seeks to reverse land reform.
Shiri said that only indigenous farmers and those under the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs) would get the opportunity to have their land back.
Indigenous farmers are people of Zimbabwean origin who were previously marginalised before independence in 1980 and later acquired farms either through direct purchase or through Government commercial farm schemes before the land reform (Hondo Yeminda/ Third Chimurenga) at the turn of the Millenium. Said Shiri:
<blockquote>The Land Reform Programme is final and irreversible. Any sentiments to the contrary are false and are to be disrespected with the contempt they deserve.
It is false to say that there is an intention to return land to the previous white commercial farmers and reverse the gains of the land reform.
It is equally false to state that the SI62 is designed to evade paying compensation to indigenous farmers; rather it creates an avenue for these farmers to exercise that option to acquire title deeds and continue with farming activities or opt for compensation.</blockquote>
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/minister-shiri-clears-air-on-land-reform/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Herald</a></h4>

Govt Refutes Claims It Intends To Return Land To White Farmers

Opposition Members of Parliament on Wednesday criticised the government over the introduction of Statutory Instrument (SI) 62 of 2020, gazetted on Friday, which empowers the President to return expropriated farms to former owners.
Independent lawmaker <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Temba_Mliswa" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Temba Mliswa</a> said the government was being inconsistent on its land policy as the SI was a violation of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, former Finance Minister <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Tendai_Biti" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tendai Biti</a> also pointed out the unconstitutionality of the new measures. He said:
<blockquote>… the net effect of SI 62 of 2020 is to allow the government to take back the land it had already given to people during the land reform programme to its original owners.
There are two categories mentioned in Section 4; ‘these are indigenous original black farmers whose land was taken and secondly, are BIPA owners (land that was protected under BIPA agreements).
The SI says that land must go back to its original owners but there two problems.
The land belongs to the State as said by the deputy minister, but it only belongs to the state by virtue of constitutional amendment number seven (7) of 2005 which says all land that was gazetted now belongs to the government.
It was put in the seventh schedule of the constitution; so, in order to take land that was gazetted and give it to someone, you actually need a constitutional amendment to take away the land from the seventh schedule. What you are doing is very unconstitutional.</blockquote>
In response, Justice Minister <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Ziyambi_Ziyambi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ziyambi Ziyambi</a> said that the farms were protected by BIPA and since the government lost a court case in arbitration, it was negotiating with those who formally owned the farms.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/mps-blast-govt-for-constitutional-breach-in-bid-to-return-land-back-to-whites/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NewZimbabwe</a></h4>

MPs Criticise Govt For 'Inconsistent' Land Policy

The government is mulling repossessing underutilised farms and relocate them to other potential beneficiaries, The Herald reports:
This was revealed in an interview with the Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Settlement Minister, <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Perrance_Shiri">Perence Shiri</a> who said:
<blockquote>The time will come when the Government may really consider taking back all underutilised land and allocate it to other potential users.
We expect every farmer who has been allocated land to utilise it, that is why Government came up with various schemes for the farmers, some can now go to financial institutions and borrow money we have got some that are now forthcoming.</blockquote>
Some farms have remained idle since the infamous <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Land_Ownership_and_Land_Reform_in_Zimbabwe">land reform</a> in the early 2000s.
More: <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/govt-to-repossess-underutilised-farms-2/">The Herald</a>

Government Considering Repossessing Underutilized Farms

Some white commercial farmers who were violently pushed off their farms during the chaotic Land Reform Programme at the turn of the Millenium are now living in penury.
Older, sicker, and having not worked for the past 20 years, the farmers are now living in extreme poverty, with some already dead without receiving compensation.
Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) director Ben Gilpin has implored the government to honour its pledge to compensate the farmers. He said:
<blockquote>Many of them are pretty old and well into their 70s and 80s and have not been working and are not able to work.
They are in a desperate state. They have been expecting the government to honour its pledge.
We started getting the interim relief in June last year and around 100 are still waiting for payment since May and when the payments did happen, the money was devalued to around US$2 000.
We need a separate deal from the usual small budgetary allocations accessed by a few people who end up getting 25 per cent of the value.</blockquote>
Last year the government agreed to pay interim relief of $55 000 to each farmer whose land was expropriated but hitherto only a few have been paid very insignificant amounts.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2020/02/02/ex-white-commercial-farmers-now-destitute" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daily News</a></h4>

White Former Farmers Now Living In Extreme Poverty - CFU

Some former white commercial farmers are returning to the farms they used to own and till the land as tenants of the black beneficiaries of the land reform.
About 800 of them have resumed farming in the three Mashonaland provinces, though the influx has been surreptitious.
A 38-year-old white farmer whose family was evicted from their farm and settled on another farm now owned by a black proprietor in <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Mashonaland_Central" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mashonaland Central province</a> had this to say:
<blockquote>I don’t know who he [former farm owner] was or where he is. I don’t even know if he is alive. But I grew up on a farm like this, and I am a Zimbabwean. This is my country. I don’t want to go anywhere else.</blockquote>
Reports suggest that when thousands of white farmers were forcibly removed from their farms at the turn of the Millenium by the then president <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Robert_Mugabe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Robert Mugabe</a>, about 200 of them were left with tiny pieces of their original landholding choosing to keep a low profile.
Now, the “new” white farmers who were children when their parents were often violently forced off the land, are derided by older evicted white farmers as mercenaries and Born Frees.
<h4>More: <a href="https://newzwire.live/this-is-my-country-20-years-on-a-younger-generation-of-zimbabwean-white-farmers-returns-to-the-land/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">newZWire</a></h4>

New Generation Of White Farmers Return To 'Their' Land

A report in the Insider has reiterated that sanctions were as a punishment of the infamous land reform and Zimbabwe’s involvement in DRC war in the late 90s.
The report which dismisses the notion that sanctions came as a result of human rights abuse claim the human rights abuse narrative was conveniently used to front the reason for sanctions while the real reasons were hidden.
The report reads in part:
<blockquote><a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Zimbabwe_Democracy_and_Economic_Recovery_Act_Of_2001">ZDERA</a> was first enacted in 2001, when the US sided with Britain, in the latter’s bilateral dispute with Harare over the fast-track land reform programme, which sought to fulfil the main liberation war objective of land redistribution to the majority of Zimbabweans.
Further, the Americans were miffed by Zimbabwe’s intervention in the DRC war, where the US had vested interests.However, the US disguised its true reasons for unilaterally imposing the illegal sanctions, citing the alleged violent nature of the land redistribution exercise. The US successfully sold the false story that all Zimbabwe had to do was to embark on wide ranging property rights and political reforms as a prerequisite for the lifting of the sanctions.</blockquote>
Zimbabwe has been under targetted sanctions for close to 2 decades with both the<a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2019/03/28/eu-diplomat-dismisses-claims-sanctions-hurt-ordinary-people/"> EU and the US stating that the sanctions are not hurting ordinary Zimbabwe</a> but the government claim otherwise.
More: <a href="https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/land-reform-drc-prompted-sanctions-on-zim">The Sunday Mail</a>

Zim Being Punished For Land Reform And Defending The Sovereignty Of DRC Through Sanctions - Sanctions Report

Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Patrick Chinamasa has said that former white farmers who lost their land will be compensated by September this year. Chinamasa said that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration will compensate the former farmers in the next four months in accordance with the Consitution of the country.
Speaking to investors in Washington at World Bank meetings recently, Chinamasa said,
<blockquote>The new dispensation has taken the decision to finalise, by September 2018, compensation to all former farmers affected by the land reform programme, in accordance with the country’s Consitution.</blockquote>
However, according to the Financial Gazette. Mnangagwa’s administration will need to cough up close to $9 billion to compensate at least 4 000 white farmers who lost their land under the controversial land reform program.
More: Financial Gazette

Mnangagwa Administration To Compensate White Farmers By September: Chinamasa

Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Management Walter Mzembi has warned South African President Jacob not to copy how Zimbabwe implemented its land reform. Instead, Mzembi counselled Zuma to develop a homegrown solution which does not rely on Marxism which he said was disastrous for Africa. Zuma is calling for radical land reform in South Africa and was quoted as saying
<blockquote>…no one is saying let us go and grab land. We are saying let us do everything within the law and, if we don’t have the law or the constitution doesn’t agree, let’s correct the constitution.</blockquote>
Speaking to the Financial Times in Bangkok, Mzembi said:
<blockquote>Do not carbon copy our revolution, evolve your own model. Land was the bedrock of our struggle. It is a less emotive issue [in South Africa] than in Zimbabwe.”
I get the sense that our neighbours are a little bit more business driven. Black business economic empowerment has been more important and more successful [in South Africa].”
…there could be more pressure [for land reform in South Africa] maybe from Malema [but] we copied Marxism for so long in Africa with dire consequences.
We were left with something that didn’t work at all. [Soviet president Mikhail] Gorbachev abandoned it and we were left like this. It’s always better to have a homegrown solution.</blockquote>
More: <a href="http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-37128-Zim+minister+warns+SA+against+land+reform/news.aspx">New Zimbabwe</a>

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