LIBERAL think-tank Coalition for Market and Liberal Solutions (Comaliso) has called on the government to compensate Zimbabweans dispossessed following President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s re-admission of commercial farmland to the free-market value chain.
Mnangagwa recently launched a new policy that will allow beneficiaries of land taken from white people under contentious land reforms to sell it and to be able to borrow from banks using it as collateral.
The development marks a major shift in the country’s land policy. Previously, resettled farmers could not transfer ownership of land.
However, ownership of the land can only be transferred between "Indigenous Zimbabweans," a reference to black Zimbabweans and will need government approval under the new policy.
Comaliso said the country would soon turn into a desert, if equitable land distribution is not prioritised.
“We applaud President Mnangagwa’s re-admission of commercial farmland to the free-market value chain but hoping that previously dispossessed citizens receive full compensation. However, with 60% of Zimbabweans residing on untitled land, delusions of rural land ownership being an exclusive preserve of the President and traditional leaders keeps those citizens locked in a vicious circle of poverty, antagonism, anxiety and prostate subservience,” Comaliso said.
A title deed is a formal document legally defining how a property is allotted by an authority, owned and transferred by the holder.
“If equitable land distribution is not prioritised, add the impact of sustainable energy deficit, we risk turning Zimbabwe into a desert. Preventing (issuance of) rural title deeds marginalises communities, stifles agricultural productivity and economic development. Secure land tenure is critical for rural citizens to also invest in their land and adopt modern agricultural practices.
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“Comaliso, therefore, urges Parliament to reform our Constitution and guarantee that Zimbabweans — particularly those in rural areas — receive title support and rights as their urban and commercial farm counterparts to build a prosperous nation.”
