Introduction
Zimbabwe has been undertaking
Land Redistribution since independence in 1980. The Land redistribution
program in Zimbabwe has attracted a lot of attention and criticism,
some of it unwarranted from the international community yet there
appears to be little attempt to appreciate the context within
which the program was undertaken. This paper, though concentrating
on the post 2000 period known as the fast track phase will try
to explain the historical linkages that culminated in the current
program.
Historical
context
Land redistribution
in Zimbabwe did not start with the advent of independence. Prior
to the colonization of the country by the British, the people
of Zimbabwe lived in communities where the traditional chiefs
were the recognized land authorities. The colonialists identified
land suitable for commercial agriculture and large scale ranching
and displaced the local people whom they resettled together with
their chiefs in what are now known as communal lands. As time
progressed, communal lands could not support the increasing population
and land degradation resulted due to congestion. Communal lands
are therefore a creation of the very early land redistribution
program carried out by the colonialists.
The colonialists strengthened
their land reform and redistribution program by enacting entrenched
legislation. In 1931, the Land Apportionment Act was passed. This
act designated land in terms of who lived and farmed therein.
In 1951, the Land Husbandry act was introduced to reinforce agricultural
practices in the areas designated by the previous acts. This legislative
program was not through universal suffrage as Africans were not
allowed to vote. Hence a small minority determined the future
and destiny of the majority. This was to be main reason for the
protracted armed struggle that later ensued.
The war of liberation
in Zimbabwe was fought mainly over the land issue. Although there
were other repressions meted out on the black population such
as prohibitions from owning urban land, prohibitions from developing
in certain areas as well as subtle separate development, land
constituted the major bone of contention. Africans had no rights
to any land, even land in communal areas where the majority of
them lived. Instead land rights were held on their behalf by the
administrative machinery set up by colonial governments such as
the District Commissioners. Traditional chiefs who were the true
representatives of the people were stripped of their powers most
of which were now exercised by the District Commissioners. There
was even a separate education system for the blacks. The whole
idea was to keep the blacks as subordinates and exploit their
labor. The land redistribution program carried out in the 1960's
provided the spark for confrontation. Although some of this program
was for urban expansion, it was the unexplained and almost inhuman
removal of people to pave way for white settlers that eventually
led to the armed struggle. The level of deprivation had reached
intolerable limits and hence the liberation struggle. The war
of liberation displaced large numbers of people some of whom were
enclosed in socalled "protected" villages in an attempt
to starve liberation fighters. The conflict was bitter. This bitterness
carried over into the independence era. One therefore needs to
understand and appreciate that the land redistribution program
in Zimbabwe was carried out against a background of historical
bitterness.
The war of
liberation was fought over the land issue where the local indigenous
people did not have access to land in their country of birth.
The protracted war eventually forced the colonialists to negotiate.
The negotiations resulted in the Lancaster House Constitution
which was the initial supreme law for post independence Zimbabwe.
It is essential to appreciate the chronological events in the
land redistribution history so that present events may be put
in the correct context. Many writers have tended to blame current
events on the government of Zimbabwe without putting the correct
context into the argument. While no land reform or redistribution
program is perfect, there are always two sides to an equation.
Notes:
1. This paper has
been prepared for the workshop "Land Redistribution in Africa:
Towards a common vision." The findings, interpretations,
and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and
do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank and its affiliated
organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of The World
Bank or the governments they represent.
2. Simon Pazvakavambwa is a former Permanent Secretary for the
Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, Ministry of Agriculture
and Ministry of Rural Resources and Water Development in Zimbabwe
- Views expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of the
Zimbabwe government.
