“ONE of the major challenges of the Land Commission is ensuring that black empowerment in land redistribution is transparent and is not meant to be a form of self-aggrandisement, or payback for political affiliation,” reads part of the Land Commission Report which was chaired by the late Dr Charles Munhamu Botsio Utete.
“It must ensure that mechanisms for productive occupation of Model A2 type farms are followed.
“Otherwise sanctions should be applied, including eviction of non-performers after a certain stipulated grace period.”
Such was the blessing of wit of Dr Utete that he recognised the need for a solid legal framework to support the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme.
The most important legal framework would be laws that govern land management, which regulations were to be enforced at all levels of the courts of law, Dr Utete observed.
The law would ensure women’s substantive rights (as those of farm workers) are recognised and protected.
The policy framework would also provide guidelines on the mechanisms for implementation and it is important to synchronise the provisions of traditional, local and central government laws on this issue. Dr Utete recognised that issues pertaining to land were central to the resolution of a number of areas that affect the economic well-being of the country.
Hence, it was essential that clarity of purpose be exercised in dealing with the land question, not only as a political, but as an economic entity for the good of the country, hence solving the inherited imbalances in the distribution and ownership of land.
The Land Commission further advocated an agricultural recovery programme incorporating sector-specific proposals; grains, pulses, horticulture, livestock — both beef and dairy to be mounted as a matter of urgency and the regularising of land acquisition, land use and management in guidance with the Land Tenure Commission Report (1994) and the National Land Policy Framework (1998).
As a long-term strategy, the Land Commission noted there was need to address agrarian reform beyond the land reform exercise.
This, according to the report, required assessment of the levels of technical, financial and institutional support for the agricultural sector as a whole.
Finally, in order to initiate the plans for the use of the land, it is essential the new policies and principles regarding the acquisition, use and management of land are formulated through widespread consultation with key stakeholders.
It is against this background and immense contribution of the late Dr Utete that there continues to be a lodestar and has seen the people mandated for the Land Commission appointed by President Robert Mugabe in June 2016.
Tendai Bare is the chairman.
This is part of Government’s efforts to weed out multiple farm-owners, resolve land disputes and deal with land reform beneficiaries leasing out farms to former white commercial farmers.
According to the new Constitution, the Land Commission should carry out periodic land audits and ensure accountability, fairness and transparency in the administration of agricultural land controlled by the State.
It is also expected to make recommendations to Government regarding all aspects of agricultural land and to investigate complaints related to administration and allocation of land.
And, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced the 99-year leases were now bankable and farmers were now able to borrow money from financial institutions.
This applies to the A2 model which is commercial. The move is expected to boost agricultural production by indigenous farmers who have been severely affected in the past by lack of financial support.
More than 400 000 black households benefitted from the Land Reform Programme.
Previously, about 4 000 white farmers owned the country’s prime land.
This has seen indigenous farmers excelling in the previously white-dominated area of tobacco with over 170 million kg of tobacco having been sold so far since the start of the tobacco selling season in March.
Addressing thousands of mourners who gathered for Dr Utete’s burial on Tuesday at the National Heroes Acre, President Mugabe described the late former Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet as a person who had real belief in the revolutionary policies of the land reform.
“Arguably the second most taxing part of his career came with the Land Reform Programme,” said President Mugabe.
“Except this was also his passion and indeed he had done some writing on it, indeed a pillar of his belief and blueprint for an independent Zimbabwe.
“It needed deep belief and courage and of course a real belief in the revolutionary policies of our land reform.
“He was every way in step with our system in the party.”
Even after retirement, President Mugabe said, Dr Utete was called upon to lead the Presidential Review on Land Reform which continues to guide Government today, as it will in the future.
President Mugabe said Dr Utete’s vision on land had been achieved, but emphasised that true land reform must give way to agrarian reforms and programmes.
“The land is in our hands,” he said.
“We are not yet done.
“A true Agrarian Reform Programme must give way to agrarian reforms and programmes.
“We should never hunger.
“Never import food.
“Never, ever!
“That is what we are working on so the land that we have recovered gives us food security as a nation and prosperity as individuals.”
Dr Utete died at the age of 77 at his Highlands home in Harare last Friday.
He is survived by his wife Verna and five children.
He was declared a national hero for his immense contribution in restructuring and shaping the country’s civil service bureaucracy from 1980.
There were many banners displayed in recognition of his roles.
But the best read: ‘A man behind the scenes’.
Indeed, he was behind the Africanisation of the civil service and the enhancement of the Land Reform Programme.