The land issue in Zimbabwe (continued)
The tension between the two countries was exasperated when in the beginning of 2000, the Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association, claiming that they were tired of waiting for the land promised by government at independence, violently occupied more than 1 000 white-owned farms. The British stopped funding the land redistribution exercise and stated that the funding would only commence once certain conditions, such as the immediate cessation of farm invasions, were met. The Zimbabwean government believed that these conditions infringed Zimbabwe's national sovereignty and violated the Lancaster House Agreement.
On 6 April 2000, the last act performed by the outgoing Parliament was to effect an amendment to the country's Constitution. The amendment did away with sections of the Lancaster House agreement, which treated land as any other property. A main aspect of the constitutional amendment was the transfer of the responsibility of paying compensation for land earmarked for resettlement from the Zimbabwe Government to the former colonial power, Britain. The new amendment obliges the Zimbabwe Government to pay for improvements only i.e. irrigation, dams, farm houses etc.
Following the amendment, it also became necessary to amend the Land Acquisition Act of 1992 to comply with the new constitutional framework. That process was accomplished on 23 May 2000, when Government, through a Special Gazette, published the new Land Acquisition Act. Following the amendment of the Constitution and the subsequent amendment of the Land Acquisition Act, the impediments that had previously hindered Government from quick acquisition of land for resettlement were removed.
All critics of the programme were labeled traitors that did "not have the interests of this country at heart" and that "They are either people who reside outside Zimbabwe or are influenced from outside".
On 15 July 2000 the Accelerated Land Reform and Resettlement Programme "Fast Track" was instituted in all eight provinces of the country.
The following land was identified for resettlement:
- derelict farms;
- under utilized farms;
- farms belonging to absentee landlords;
- farms adjacent to communal areas; and
- farms under multiple ownership.
Beneficiary selection was carried out by local committees made up of traditional leaders, councillors, district administrators, provincial administrators, governors, representatives of the War Veterans and other specially appointed individuals. The committee was meant to ensure that beneficiaries of the Land Resettlement Programme were the landless and disadvantaged sector of the population.
On 31 July 2000, the National Land Acquisition Committee announced the identification of additional farms for the Resettlement Programme.
Government identified 2 237 properties for the resettlement programme acquisition, in addition to the 804 farms which were gazetted on 2 July 2000. This yielded a total of 3 041 farms, measuring just over 5 million hectares, which are now at various stages of gazetting, acquisition and resettlement.
The distribution of these farms by Province is as follows:
| Province | Number of Farms |
|---|---|
| Mashonaland Central | 361 |
| Mashonaland East | 664 |
| Mashonaland West | 617 |
| Manicaland | 284 |
| Midlands | 321 |
| Matebeleland South | 465 |
| Masvingo | 237 |
| Matebeleland North | 92 |
Controversy continues to surround the land issue in Zimbabwe today. The government recently stated that the Land Redistribution Programme would "lay a firm and durable basis for stability in the country". The Programme, however, has proven to have had the opposite effect.
