The Zimbabwe government on Friday dismissed opposition claims that it is returning land back to former white commercial farmers.
This is after the government recently enacted a law stating that only two categories of farmers dispossessed of their land during the land reform program could be compensated with land. Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri clarified that the land would only be offered as compensation for farm improvements as is provided for in the national constitution. The land would also be offered for the purposes of restoring ownership on properties covered by inter-state bilateral investment agreements, he said.
The Zimbabwe government recently enacted Statutory Instrument 62 of 2020 which stipulates that indigenous farmers whose farms were compulsorily acquired under the land reform program had an option to apply to repossess their land and forgo monetary compensation. Farms which were also protected under Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements could also be returned to their previous owners upon application. This has led to allegations by the opposition that the government is now reversing the land reform program.
Shiri said the Statutory Instrument was guided by several constitutional provisions, some which provide for compensation of indigenous Zimbabweans whose agricultural land was acquired, as well as persons whose agricultural land was protected by government-to-government investment protection agreements. “As we are all aware, there are a number of farms belonging to indigenous individuals that were acquired under the land reform program. “By indigenous individuals we are making reference to people of native Zimbabwean origin who were previously marginalized before 1980 and had acquired land either through direct purchase or through government commercial farm schemes before the advent of the land reform program.
“These are entitled to full compensation for land and improvements. The (law) also provides for the full compensation of persons whose agricultural land was acquired yet it was protected by a government-to-government agreement,” Shiri said.
It is therefore false that there is an intention by the government to return land to previous white commercial farmers and reverse the gains of land reform, he said. “It is equally false to state that the Statutory Instrument is designed to evade paying compensation to indigenous farmers, rather it creates an avenue for these farmers to exercise the option to acquire title and continue with farming activities or opt for compensation,” he said. Shiri reiterated that the land reform program was final and irreversible. Government set aside 380 million Zimbabwean dollars in the 2020 national budget for interim compensation of former farm owners.
