Zimbabwe finalises policy to entrench property rights on resettled farms
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Zimbabwe is finalising a policy that would entrench property rights for people resettled on seized farms, with cabinet approval expected by the end of the year, lands minister Vangelis Haritatos says.
Zimbabwe is finalising a new policy that will entrench property rights for people who were resettled on farms seized from white commercial operators 26 years ago, according to lands and rural development minister Vangelis Haritatos. The policy is expected to be approved by cabinet by year-end and, in Haritatos's words, "guarantees that the land reform is irreversible and moves us safely into a transformative rural economy". "We are already on the final draft," he said in an interview in Bulawayo.
In 2000 then-president Robert Mugabe encouraged black subsistence farmers and youths to invade white-owned farms, seizures he said were needed to address colonial-era injustices. Agricultural production collapsed, and because the property never formally changed hands, the new occupiers were unable to use the land as collateral to raise money to farm.
The land grabs led to international sanctions. In 2020 the government agreed to pay white farmers $3.5 billion in compensation as it sought to rebuild relations with the international community, and it has so far dispensed $800 million in cash and treasury bills, according to finance minister Mthuli Ncube.
The new policy will consolidate the gains of the land reform programme by "promoting an inclusive, transparent and equitable land-administration system that protects legitimate landowners and expands opportunities for women, youth and vulnerable groups", Haritatos told lawmakers.