Land Commission Bill- what is it all about?

 (6)     The Government must make adequate and suitable provision, through legislation and other appropriate means to ensure that:-

(a)     The Zimbabwe Land Commission is able to exercise its functions, efficiently and independently; and

(b)     Persons employed by the Zimbabwe Land Commission carryout their duties conscientiously, fairly and impartially.

Hon. Members, the Bill before you is a milestone in a Land Reform of historic dimensions almost without comparison in the modern era.  It is an achievement long in the making, beginning with our people being dispossessed of the ancestral rights to their land during the colonial era, and distinguished by several land marks over many generations, specifically from the  First Chimurenga (1896-1897), the Second Chimurenga in 1966, culminating in our independence in 1980 and finally the decisive phase of the Land Reform in 2000.

Why do I say that our Land Reform is “almost without comparison in the modern era?”  In terms of the magnitude of the historical imbalances that needed to be redressed, the size of land transferred, the speed and comprehensiveness of the transfer, the numbers of our people who have benefitted and the extent of the benefits actually accruing to our people; it is hard to find its peer anywhere in the world in recent times.  Allow me to quote from a recent publication, Zimbabwe Takes back Its Land.

In the biggest land reform in Africa, 6 000 white farmers have been replaced by 245 000 indigenous farmers.  Zimbabwe’s land reform has not been neat and huge problems remain.  But 245 000 new farmers have received land and most of them are farming it.  They have raised their own standard of living; have already reached production levels of the former white farmers and with a bit of support are ready to substantially increase that production.

The area of land redistribution to date stands at 12.6 million hectares.  Such a massive exercise achieved in a relatively short period of time resulted in a number of administrative issues like boundary disputes, double allocation and infrastructure sharing problems amongst others, which need to be addressed holistically.  Hence, the establishment of the Land Commission through Section 296 of the Constitution.

In terms of the legislative background to this Bill, it is the first significant legislative intervention in the sphere of land reform and land tenure since the Land Acquisition Act of 1992 and the various amendments to that Act (the last of which was in 2002).  It also seeks to repeal two colonial-era pieces of land settlement and tenure legislation, namely Rural Land Act and the Agricultural Land Settlement Act which were enacted in 1963 and 1969 respectively.

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