PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa's government has embarked on a new paradigm shift to economically empower all beneficiaries of the chaotic year 2000 land reform programme by issuing them with bankable, registrable and transferable tenure certificates.
In implementing the new policy, he said priority will be accorded to veterans of the liberation struggle, the disabled, youths and women, among other marginalised demographic groups.
In the aftermath of dubious land allocations and subsequent title issuance, the government has, with immediate effect, put an indefinite moratorium on the issuance of any new 99-year leases, offer letters and permits for agricultural land.
Information Minister, Jenfan Muswere, stated during a Tuesday post-Cabinet media briefing in Harare on behalf of his principal, Mnangagwa.
He noted that under this new document, 'bonafide' beneficiaries of the year 2000 land redistribution exercise that dispossessed former white commercial farmers, will now get enhanced security of tenure to the land in order to "unlock value."
"These agricultural and urban land measures will have a huge impact on our economic growth and will unlock the full value of the land while enhancing the performance of our economy.
"This will facilitate accelerated investments in agriculture and associated value chains, which include irrigation, dam construction, power supply, and rural road construction.
"The economic value enhancement on land will further unlock resources for the fulfilment of Constitutional obligations related to land reform.
"All these measures will complement current efforts towards an upper middle-income economy, which will be achieved by 2030," Muswere said.
Security of tenure to all agricultural land regularised under this programme will, at all times, only be transferable among indigenous Zimbabweans and land targeted for the new land tenure system will exclude communal land that is under the jurisdiction of traditional Chiefs.
The minister said urban land would only be made commercially available to credible and approved land developers, with capacity to add value to it in compliance with relevant laws and protocols.
"Ultimately, the goal is to establish high-quality housing developments in fulfilment of our vision of an upper-middle income economy by 2030.
"Areas that are not in use within cities will be considered for urban development. Urban renewal, urban transformation and regularisation will also be given priority," he said.
To ensure expeditious implementation of the measures, Mnangagwa has constituted a Cabinet Oversight Committee chaired by Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri to lead this reform process.
A technical committee called the Land Tenure Implementation Committee (LTIC), which will co-ordinate and steer the implementation of this process will also be constituted.
"These Committees will work diligently to develop improved security of tenure for land beneficiaries while ensuring that the value of agricultural and urban State land value is fully unlocked to guarantee inclusive and nationwide economic development.
"Detailed terms of reference have been developed for the two committees. Government will put in place all the necessary institutional and logistical mechanisms to ensure the smooth coordination and implementation of these new policies and objectives," he said.
"Accordingly, Government hereby forthwith issues an indefinite moratorium on the issuance of any new 99-year leases, offer letters and permits for agricultural land."
The new measures are aimed at addressing challenges faced by Zimbabwean farmers, including access to financing, the absence of security of tenure and threat to land tenure among others.
"While our people are endowed with agricultural land, resulting from progressive government policies, they continue to grapple with the following challenges: Difficulty in accessing affordable, appropriately structured and adequate finance for sustainable commercial agriculture.
"In the absence of security of tenure, the farmers are not sufficiently motivated to invest adequately and to develop robust infrastructure on their farms for sustainable production," Muswere said.
There are also threats to land tenure which this new land policy will fix, especially to successors entitled to and held by beneficiaries of the land reform programme-- such as children of war veterans-- arising from inheritance and fraudulent succession issues.
It was also highlighted that government remains burdened with debt emanating from unpaid agricultural loans by many farmers. The menace of land barons, Muswere said, is posing another threat as they had little or no regard for the country's town and country planning laws and policies.
"Against this background and in line with Section 292 of the Constitution read together with Sections 289, 293 and 294 that obligates the State to give security of tenure to every person and to alienate for value agricultural land among other requirements, government will implement the following measures: All land held by beneficiaries of the Land Reform Programme under 99-year leases, offer letters and permits, will now be held under a bankable, registrable and transferrable more secure document of tenure, to be issued by the Government of Zimbabwe to beneficiaries," he said.
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Through the statement issued by the Information minister, Mnangagwa reiterated that the Land Reform Programme was irreversible.
"The Land Reform Programme was carried out to divest ownership of agricultural land from the minority white farmers to the black majority people of Zimbabwe.
"The rationale of the land reform was to address the inequalities that existed during the colonial era and to ensure that every Zimbabwean had equitable access to this finite resource.
"The Constitution and other legislative provisions that deal with the administration of agricultural land have mechanisms and safeguards to ensure that the legacy and benefits of the land reform are protected and that land reform is irreversible," he said.
Government says beneficiaries of the land redistribution exercise must take farming as a lucrative business.
"The noticeable new paradigm amongst Zimbabwean farmers, especially the majority of beneficiaries of the land reform, is to regard and conduct farming as a business; as a source of both livelihood and means to increasing personal economic value.
