Turning a page on land reform programme

Willard Manungo

THE Land Tenure Reforms Sector Working Group (SWG) is the third pillar of the arrears clearance and debt resolution process for Zimbabwe.

It is also part of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) Thematic Working Group on Image Building, Engagement and Re-engagement process for the country.

The SWG is co-chaired by the following partners: the Office of the President and Cabinet; the Swiss Ambassador; and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative.

The mandate of the SWG is to contribute towards the identification, development and implementation of Zimbabwe’s land tenure reforms, in line with the Constitution, and to support the compensation of former farm owners (FFOs) and farmers protected under bilateral investment protection and promotion agreements (BIPPAs), in accordance with the Constitution and laws on bilateral commitments for Zimbabwe.

The ultimate goal of the SWG is to facilitate the promotion of equity, macroeconomic stability and growth, and to provide Zimbabwe with the credibility to successfully negotiate its arrears clearance and outstanding debt obligations.

Three sub-sector working groups (SSWGs) were created for the implementation of the three reform areas, and these are: land tenure reforms; compensation of former farm owners; and resolution of BIPPAs.

Each of the three SSWGs has been implementing activities related to its terms of reference and today we give updates on progress made. The SWG on land tenure reforms, compensation of FFOs and resolution of BIPPAs has been focusing on three major reform areas, which are:

Land tenure reforms (bankable and tradable 99-year leases for commercial [A2] farms);

Facilitating compensation payment for FFOs (for example, implementation of the Global Compensation Deed [GCD]); and

Facilitating compensation payment for BIPPA-protected farmers (for example, resolution of BIPPAs).

Progress

Resolution of BIPPAs

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion set aside US$20 million for compensation of BIPPA farmers in the 2024 Budget.

The BIPPA farmers will be compensated for land and improvements on the farms.

Only farmers from countries that had signed and ratified BIPPAs by the time of the Land Reform Programme of the year 2000 will be considered for compensation payment.

The countries are Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and Yugoslavia.

Members of the SSWG on BIPPAs agreed that, for compensation payment from the USD$20 million, this amount will be shared equally amongst the farms that meet the criteria. An advert was placed in the papers on May 26, 2024 for BIPPA farmers to submit their applications for consideration for compensation. This resulted in 99 farm applications being received after three months.

The distribution of the farmers and farms was as follows:

From the Land Compensation Committee meeting held in September 2024 to consider the 99 applications, it was noted that four farms had been sold prior to acquisition and were removed from the list.

One farm that was being contested was also removed from the list until the issues are clarified, leaving 94 farms to be considered for compensation in 2024.

From the 94 remaining farms, 10 will be fully compensated in 2024.

Compensation consent forms for nine farms have been signed by the farmers and one farmer will be signing their consent form today (Monday last week) as they were not available.

The consent forms for the nine farms are now with the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, ready for payment of the full compensation claim. Consent forms for the 84 farms have also been sent out and once farmers sign and return them, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development will verify and send to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion for payment.

This should happen this week (last week), before the end of November 2024.

The total claim to be paid off for the 10 farms is US$1 910 126, whilst each of the 84 farms will get US$215 355 for 2024. The balance will be paid over four years (2025-2028).

Compensation of FFOs

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion set aside US$35 million in the 2024 Budget for the compensation of FFOs who are part of the Global Compensation Deed that was signed in 2020.

The farmers will only be paid for improvements they made on the farms, as stated in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

Farmers will submit the original title deeds upon completion of payment for the compensation. Meanwhile, on labour clearance, it was agreed that the processing of compensation would continue whilst the modalities of handling the labour issues are being worked out.

A portal to capture details of the farmers was established and this has provided vital information being used to process the GCD farmers’ claims for compensation.

To assist in the processing of the compensation for FFOs, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development conducted deed searches to verify ownership of the farms.

From the two Land Compensation Committee meetings held, 444 farms for FFOs have been cleared for payment of compensation.

The consent forms for the FFOs will be sent out this week (last week) and once the farmers have signed and returned the forms, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development will verify and submit them to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion for payment of the 1 percent of the claim as cash.

The balance will be paid through Treasury bonds over a 10-year period.

Meanwhile, another compensation committee meeting will be held before the end of the year to deliberate on an additional 320 GCD farmers’ cases that have since been uploaded on the portal as at November 22, 2024.

Land tenure reforms

Stakeholders held discussions on the current 99-year lease document to identify its shortcomings that were making banks not to accept the document.

The Bankers Association of Zimbabwe was invited to be part of the discussions. A follow-up meeting was also held to discuss the legislation in place to identify shortcomings that were affecting the bankability and transferability of the 99-year lease document.

A proposal was made that the SSWG conduct study visits to Kenya, Tanzania and Brazil to learn how other jurisdictions have made their leases to be bankable and transferable and so far a visit to Tanzania has been made.

Findings from the study visit to Tanzania indicate that the lease document is a short document of two pages with the rights, responsibilities and obligations put in an Act and implied in every lease agreement.

Other study visits are to be conducted in Kenya and Brazil to assist the stakeholders in learning from other countries so that the information learnt can help improve the Zimbabwean 99-year lease to make it bankable and transferable for the commercial viability of the farmers.

The African Legal Support Foundation (ALSF) has also been engaged to assist in working on the bankability and transferability of the 99-year lease.

An initial meeting was conducted to enable the consultants to appreciate the current land tenure reforms setup and how the 99-year lease is expected to feed into the agriculture sector to make it commercially viable.

Way forward

The year 2025 will see the Land SWG fine-tuning the 99-year lease document so that it is acceptable in financial institutions to enable farmers to get loans for commercial viability.

The Land SWG will also be working on the legal instrument to help in the use of the 99-year lease. The Land SWG will also work on finalising the compensation payment for the first batch of BIPPA farmers and GCD famers.

Additionally, the SWG will be planning for subsequent payments to GCD and BIPPA farmers as the Government remains committed to clearing these payments.

A request from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development for equipment and stationery for use in the Land Compensation Committee exercises will be considered in 2025. A request for an accounting software package that will assist the ministry in tracking the payments of compensation to the FFOs and the BIPPA farmers will also be considered for payment in 2025.

Mr Willard Manungo is the Deputy Chief Secretary (Policy Analysis, Coordination and Development Planning) in the Office of the President and Cabinet, and Co-Chairperson of the Land Tenure Reforms Sector Working Group. He delivered this presentation during the High-Level Structured Dialogue Platform on the Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution Process last week.