Chronicle Editor
Farirai Machivenyika, Harare Bureau
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has said the land reform programme, which redressed colonial land ownership imbalances by giving land to black Zimbabweans at the turn of the millennium, is irreversible and what the Government is doing now is implementing the dictates of the Constitution.
Addressing members of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) at the State House yesterday, the President said there won’t be any vacillation on the land issue.
“Let me restate that the Land Reform Programme is irreversible. To this end, there is no vacillation. The current processes with regards to land issues entail the implementation of provisions of our national Constitution, in particular, Section 295 as it relates to black indigenous Zimbabweans. I urge all farmers to remain focused on preparing for a successful 2020/2021 season,” he said.
Not more than 37 white former commercial farmers who were protected by bilateral agreements between Zimbabwe and their Governments will benefit from the latest statutory instrument that brings finality to the irreversibility of the land reform programme.
The rest of the white former farmers will be compensated for developments they made on the farms and not the land under the Global Compensation Deed signed by the Government and their representatives last month as the Second Republic fulfils provisions in the Constitution.
Just like the white former farmers who were protected under the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs), a handful of black former farm owners, who lost their pieces of land during the revolutionary land reform programme will also have the option of returning to their former farms depending on circumstances on the ground.
On Monday, the Government announced that it will offer land back to black farmers whose land was compulsorily acquired during the land reform programme and white former farmers whose farms are protected by BIPPAs.
The position taken by the Government to fulfil the dictates of the country’s Constitution prompted some within the opposition to claim that Zimbabwe was reversing the land reform programme.
The President told leaders from different political parties that the country is now accelerating the pace towards economic stabilisation and growth and reiterated that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe as is being purveyed by detractors.
POLAD is an interactive platform for opposition political parties to engage with the Government so as to come up with a shared national vision.
Updating POLAD members on progress made in fighting Covid-19, the President said although there has been a worrisome spike in the number of infections attributable to local transmissions, there has been a corresponding rise in the recovery rate, which is now at 80 percent.
“The loss of 206 people to date is regrettable. Every effort is being made to ensure that all citizens are safe hence the need to continuously vary the lockdown measures.”
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