LAND TENURE STATEMENT
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 this 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 that
land reform is irreversible.
The noticeable new paradigm amongst Zimbabwean farmers,
especially the majority of beneficiaries of the 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.
DISTRIBUTED BY VERITAS
e-mail: [email protected]; website: www.veritaszim.net
Veritas makes every effort to ensure the provision of reliable information,
but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied.
The Government has since 2008, put in place various
programmes to assist farmers to be productive on the land. This
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 of war veterans) arising from inheritance
and fraudulent succession issues.
4. While Government conceived and implemented these
positive programmes, there have been varying levels of
accountability from the farmers, with a significant proportion
of farmers feeling no obligation to pay back loans advanced.
Consequently, 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 and 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,
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 transferrable more
secure document of tenure, to be issued by the Government
of Zimbabwe to beneficiaries. As such, beneficiaries 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 our Veterans of the Liberation
Struggle, youths and women;
b. Security of tenure to all agricultural land regularized under
this programme, will at all time only be transferrable
among indigenous Zimbabweans; and
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.
Ultilmately, 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 urban development. Urban
renewal, urban transformation and regularization 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 Hon. 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 the
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.
Government will put in place all the necessary institutional and
logistical mechanisms to ensure the smooth coordination and
implementation of these new policies and objectives.
Accordingly, Government hereby forthwith issues an indefinite
moratorium on the issuance of any new 99-year leases, offer
letters and permits for agricultural land.
In conclusion, Government remains committed to jealously
safeguarding the gains of our 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”.
