Does Mugabe think so lowly of blacks that he cannot give them title to land- MP asks?

Harare West legislator Jessie Majome has called on the government to give resettled framers title deeds to their land instead of 99-year leases so that they can use the land as collateral to help the economy to recover.

She said the 99-year-lease did not accord a holder the security of tenure.

Contributing to the debate on the Land Commission Bill,  Majome said: “It is my hope that the land commission will finally answer that very difficult question to the effect that what is so wrong with giving black Zimbabwean title deeds to agricultural land. 

“Should we as an independent nation do worse than the colonial government?  Are we so mistrustful of the capacity of black people to own agricultural land and have title deeds?  Do we think so lowly of them? 

“It is my hope that we finally answer that question and I hope that we will answer it in the affirmative and ultimately that the Land Commission gives us a land tenure system where Zimbabweans are able to hold title deeds to agricultural land so that they can use that asset as a resource that recovers the economy. “

The government has argued in the past that it preferred land to remain in the hands of the State because if new farmers were given title deeds they might sell the land back to whites thus reverse the whole idea of the land reform programme.

Majome, a lawyer and former Deputy Minister of Justice, also said she hoped that the Commission would deal with three issues of discrimination in the allocation of land.

These were the allocation of land on a political basis, mainly that  it was only those who belonged to the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front who got land; allocation of land on the basis of race which denied people of other races other than black to get land; and finally allocation of land based on gender.

She said most of the land was being offered to men and women had a raw deal when they divorced.

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HON. MAJOME:  Thank you Madam Speaker, I had almost given up hope, I thank you for giving me an opportunity to contribute to the debate on this very important Bill – [AN HON. MEMBER:  Inaudible interjection.] – murikutauraka handinzwe kana muchitaura.

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order Hon. Members.  Hon. Member, can you raise up your voice, I know you have a low voice but please try so that those who are at the back can  hear you.

HON. MAJOME:  Thank you Madam Speaker, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to lend my voice to the debate on this Bill on the Land Commission that is historic for two reasons.  This is the first time that we in Zimbabwe will actually have a Commission on land.  Secondly, I want to really salute the progress that we are making in implementing our Constitution because we are debating this Bill.  Our Constitution requires that there be a Land Commission Bill.

Madam Speaker, I want to make three proposals as I debate this very important Bill.  I want to start by thanking the Committee on Agriculture led by Hon. Chitindi for the comprehensive report that they compiled after consulting Zimbabweans about what they expect the Land Commission Bill to be.  I want to just pick on three threads from that Bill so that I will urge the august House to pass a Bill that strengthens the capacity of the Land Commission, and to fulfill the requirements and its functions in terms of the Constitution.  Also to meet the aspirations of Zimbabweans who gave their views around how they want the Bill to be.

Madam Speaker, it is my hope that although this Commission is a an Executive Commission, it appears to be a very interesting Commission that is a sui generis Commission as lawyers would say, that is of its own kind.  While the Constitution says it is an Executive Commission but it also has the characteristics of an independent commission.  If this Land Commission or be it an Executive Commission is to perform its functions, it does require independence in a lot of respects that is similar to independent commissions in terms of the Constitution.  It is my hope that the Hon. Minister, Dr. Mombeshora will do everything that he can to ensure that he gives this Commission ample opportunity to actually fulfill its functions.  It is an Executive Commission and it does fall under their purview, but it will be a tragedy if the powers of those in Cabinet will be used to override the work of the Commission, its analysis as well as its recommendations. 

Madam Speaker, I want to urge Hon. Members to also ensure that we strengthen the Bill in terms of its capacity to ensure that Executive powers are not used to override and ignore recommendations of this Commission, which is very important for our economic recovery.  It also is my hope that the Executive does get to respect that fine balance, that it tampers its Executive powers and actually welcomes this Commission as an Institution that will enable the Executive to better fulfill its functions, so as to ensure that we have sound land administration which will support our economic recovery.

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Mr. Speaker Sir, an offer letter is the most insecure piece of paper that a person can ever have in terms of land.  In my respectful view, even the 99 year lease does not accord the holder with security of tenure.  It is my hope that the land commission will finally answer that very difficult question to the effect that what is so wrong with giving black Zimbabwean title deeds to agricultural land.  Should we as an independent nation do worse than the colonial government?  Are we so mistrustful of the capacity of black people to own agricultural land and have title deeds?  Do we think so lowly of them?  It is my hope that we finally answer that question and I hope that we will answer it in the affirmative and ultimately that the Land Commission gives us a land tenure system where Zimbabweans are able to hold title deeds to agricultural land so that they can use that asset as a resource that recovers the economy.

While I am on that point, it is a pity that the Hon. Minister of Finance has left the august House.  My second contribution pertains to the capacity that we give to commissions to enable them to fulfill their work.  This House is not a stranger to the very sad state of affairs that has resulted in virtually all those commissions that we have that have been established by the Constitution, having totally insufficient funding to such an extent that they are unable to fulfill their functions. It is my hope that we ensure that this Land Commission does not suffer a still birth arising from the same poverty of scarcity of resources.  One constructive way of ensuring that a Commission does not work is to starve it of funding , resources and not to allocate sufficient funding for the commissioners to go about their work of conducting land audits, giving opinions and ensuring that there is equitable access to land holding as well as making recommendations to simplify our system of land tenure.  This Commission can only be worth its salt if this august House does allocate sufficient funding for it to do that.

Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to go back to my point that I made about the recommendations and the findings that this Commission is going to make.  It is no secret that reports of other critical State Institutions are not taken seriously.  Reports of the Auditor General are one case in point.  This august House has received report after report of some very critical findings that would save our nation from the Auditor General.  I say this so as to urge Hon. Members of this august House to ensure that we stop the practice of just allowing recommendations to go unfulfilled.  This Land Commission will make very important recommendations that the Executive will need to observe.  Therefore, I urge Hon. Members of this august House not to forget that for this Commission to work, when we pass the Bill, we will need to find out how it is faring and what the Executive has done with its recommendations.

Thirdly, in debating and supporting the strengthening of this Bill, I want to urge the Hon. Minister to ensure that when this Land Commission comes into office, we will see the last of discrimination in the allocation and distribution of land.  Here, I refer to three kinds of discrimination.  I hope that with this Land Commission we will kiss good bye to the discrimination in access to land on the basis of political affiliation.  I think it is a shame that even as I speak now, the distribution of agricultural land is being done on a partisan basis.  It is nothing less than a scandal that land committees, whether they be district or provincial are staffed by officials of the ruling party.  In their official capacity they sit as ex-official members.

What chance does a person who does not belong to ZANU PF have of being allocated land or of retaining the land that they have acquired if the land committees themselves are manned by officials of a ruling party?  This Land Commission is an opportunity for us as a country to depart from that very unhappy and shameful discriminatory practice where people acquire national resources on the basis of political affiliation.  It is my hope that this Land Commission will do its work and not do this.

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I also refer to discrimination on the basis of race Mr. Speaker Sir.  It is my hope that this Land Commission allows Zimbabwe and assists us to seriously determine what it is that we want to do with our land.  Do we say that people of a particular race only are the ones that are able to occupy agricultural land or to use it or is it every Zimbabwean, as our Constitution requires, because there is confusion in the issues to do with land.   We hear pronouncements from political leaders who seem to suggest that if a person is not black he/she cannot acquire agricultural land.  What if those people are Zimbabweans and can also queue alongside other Zimbabweans who have not been privileged before and are capable of farming?

It is my hope that the Land Commission, through this Bill, will ensure that it fulfills those requirements that all Zimbabweans who qualify for land are able to use agricultural land.  It is also my hope that the Land Commission does also get rid of the existing discrimination on the basis of gender that is found in access to agricultural land.  It is no secret that most of our farmers in this country are women but if we go to our land tenure records, we will find that only a minority of women were allocated agricultural land.  I therefore, urge the Hon. Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement together with the Land Commission to particularly look at the issue of succession – that is inheritance to agricultural land that comes to people when they acquire access to this land, seeing there is a lot of confusion.

In my work as a legal practitioner, I encounter very unhappy situations where a man and a woman marry and usually it is the man who is given an offer letter or maybe a lease.  However, when they divorce, the women involved usually are the ones who will be working on the land.  When courts then distribute land in terms of the Matrimonial Causes Act, the women usually get a raw deal because the courts will say their hands are tied as the land is State land.  A lot of unfairness usually occurs and hence I hope that the Land Commission, through this Bill if we pass, will particularly look at the passing on of agricultural land by law, which is through succession upon the death of the holders or upon the divorce of the parties involved.

I want to end by speaking on the issue of security of tenure.  It is also my hope that we strengthen the Land Commission to ensure that the Land Commission is able to search high and low and deep and wide to find out those models of land tenure that will assist Zimbabwe to have a land tenure system that not only makes economic sense, because right now our land is a dead asset; those who have agricultural land cannot borrow any money from the banks because of a very obscure land tenure system.

Mr. Speaker Sir, an offer letter is the most insecure piece of paper that a person can ever have in terms of land.  In my respectful view, even the 99 year lease does not accord the holder with security of tenure.  It is my hope that the land commission will finally answer that very difficult question to the effect that what is so wrong with giving black Zimbabwean title deeds to agricultural land.  Should we as an independent nation do worse than the colonial government?  Are we so mistrustful of the capacity of black people to own agricultural land and have title deeds?  Do we think so lowly of them?  It is my hope that we finally answer that question and I hope that we will answer it in the affirmative and ultimately that the Land Commission gives us a land tenure system where Zimbabweans are able to hold title deeds to agricultural land so that they can use that asset as a resource that recovers the economy.

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With that Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to finally conclude by urging Hon. Members to do everything we can, even at the Committee Stage to strengthen the Land Commission Bill to ensure that Parliament gives the Commission power to conduct land audits, to ensure that there is transparency, accountability and fairness in land distribution.  Also, the Commission should ensure that there is environmental soundness in access to land and that we stop political abuse of access to state resources.  I hope that the Land Commission will start by investigating access by the State of private land in urban areas, for example, here in Zimbabwe and distributing it only to ZANU PF party officials.

It is my hope Mr. Speaker Sir that the Land Commission gets to work very quickly.  Let us give it the power and the resources to do so, so that it can perform its Executive functions but with sufficient leeway and space for it to actually give recommendations to the Executive that would be for the good of the nation.  I thank you.

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