New law to jail farmers who remain on government acquired land

By Lance Guma
22 September 2006

The Zanu PF dominated parliament this week rammed through a new law that will see the imprisonment of any farmer who remains on land that has been acquired by government. The Land (Consequential Provisions) Bill now makes it an offence to remain on farmland without authority from government and carries with it a seven-day jail term and a forced eviction. The law also invalidates any legal challenges pertaining to seized farms while making valid the offer letters issued to new farmers.

State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, who also oversees the land reform exercise, boasted that the law was meant to deal decisively with the issue of evicted farmers continuing to occupy land that had already been gazetted. The minister tried to put some positive spin on the bill by saying ‘The bill also addresses the issue of unlawful fresh farm occupations.’ He explained that this was because the new black farmers needed to be protected from other black farmers invading their land.

Experts say the introduction of this new law is an indirect admission the land reform exercise has failed. The new bill replaces the Rural Land Occupiers (Protection from Eviction) Act and although it offers protection from marauding farm invaders, it denies those occupying farms the right to defend themselves from arbitrary government decisions. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is due in Zimbabwe next week and some analysts are concluding government wants to look like it is doing its best to stop lawless invasions.