VIPs buy 1300 farms

Statistics from the Valuation Consortium (VALCON), a group of professional valuators brought together by the Commercial Farmers Union to deal with the issue of farm compensation, show that 1172 040-plus hectares of land from 1 300 arms were “legally acquired” from their former owners by individuals between 2000, the year government embarked on its often-violent land reforms, and last month. 

At the same time, government has been seizing land for redistribution ever since and under a process which dis­placed 4 500 farmers. 

“When (VALCON) was formed, they established a database which today includes about 95-percent of all “farmers” affected by the expropriation of assets by the State. On the database is a Google map for every farm, with a full descrip­tion (of the property). It includes details of ownership and … who is in occupa­tion,” Eddie Cross, an opposition Move­ment for Democratic Change legislator and who has recently lauded the new Harare administration’s efforts in turning around the country’s economy, said. 

VALCON also says of the 4 500 farms operating in 2000, only 349 farms were operational by February 2018, down from 359 farms by November 2016. 

According to the statistics, only 47 farmers have received some kind of com­pensation – under a recent government initiative or plan – for improvements and those “buying” land are seen as des­perate for title to agricultural land. 

The phenomenon has also been partly influenced by the fact that much of Zim­babwe’s productive land remains dead capital and there are current haggles over the bankability of the 99-year govern­ment leases. 

Meanwhile, some observers said the “surprise acquisitions” could also be a result of speculative buying in antici­pation of compensation windfalls in the future. 

Agricultural expert, Maxwell Mutema said there was need to revert to the old tenure system. 

“Our freehold title deed tenure system was once the envy of Africa and the rest of the world. There is need to revisit our current land tenure policy on land in­tended for commercial farming to restore it,” Mutema said. 

Economist John Robertson said the data from VALCON illustrates the con­fusion caused by people classifying themselves into a special class and mak­ing private arrangements to secure title deeds for their land. 

“However, the overriding issue, which was later incorporated into the Constitution, is that all agricultural land is the property of the State. This means that every claim to ownership, every purchase or sale, every property acquired, whether registered or otherwise, is still the property of the State,” he said. 

Government recently invited dispos­sessed white farmers to apply for com­pensation for seized land. 

It has also advised those interested in farming to apply for the 99-year leases. 

A Compensation Committee head­ed by Ringston Chitsiko, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agri­culture and Rural Resettlement, has been created to expedite the process. 

This move is meant to stabilise the economy and restore property rights in order to lure investors into the agricultural sector. 

Mozambique has six million hectares of land available for foreign investors, while Zambia has identified 10 agribusi­ness project sites covering 100 000 hect­ares each for foreign investors. 

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have insisted that Zimbabwe compensates white farmers and restores property rights to attract foreign investment. 

Independent evaluators estimate that Zimbabwe needs to pay the evicted white farmers $9 billion for improvements and about $2,8 billion for me land. 

Some farmers argue that they bought the farms after independence under existing laws then.