Mozambique delegation on Zim land reform study tour
Posted: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 1:04 am
A MOZAMBICAN delegation is currently visiting Zimbabwe to familiarise itself with the country's land reform programme. Zimbabwe is heralded by many African countries as setting the precedent for passing the ownership of the means of production (especially land) to indigenous people.
A Portuguese-speaking country, Mozambique is situated to the north of South Africa, east of Zimbabwe and Malawi and south of Tanzania has a 2,470 km coastline, bordered by the tropical Indian Ocean.
Speaking on Monday at the Agriculture Research Trust, head of the Mozambican delegation Mr Venancio Veremo, of the liberation movement, the Freedom For The Liberation of Mozambique party (Frelimo), said the tour was an eye-opener for their delegation.
Zanu-PF and Frelimo have age-old ties dating back to the liberation struggle.
"The Government of Zimbabwe has done a lot to empower its people and the land reform is one such example of empowerment," said Mr veremo.
"We have toured farms owned by both blacks and white farmers and they are doing a good job. These white farmers understood that it was necessary for Government to redistribute land to the people.
"Other people were saying it was xenophobic, but we have learnt that it was about equitable sharing of land," Mr Veremo added.
He said Mozambique had a lot to learn from Zimbabwe’s empowerment programmes.
Mr Veremo's delagation's visit to Zimbabwe follows the ANC Youth League's visit earlier this month. The ANCYL president Julius Malema said he was impressed by the way land reform had progressed in Zimbabwe, despite international media and foreign governments' criticisms.
Speaking at the same occassion, Mashonaland Central Governor and Resident Minister Advocate Martin Dinha urged white commercial farmers to co-exist on land with their black counterparts.
Adv Dinha said: "The land reforms sought to share land between white commercial farmers and the black majority and those who accepted it are still on the farms but those who did not want to share counted the costs.
"In Mazoe District, we have white farmers who supported Government’s land reform programme and they were also considered under the 99-year leases.
"We have farmers like Nascemento Manuel who have been very supportive of the newly-resettled black farmers.
"He has already started a horticulture project, which promotes our people and this is what we want to see with the remaining white farmers. Other white farmers who have been supportive of this programme include Bryan Townsend and Jordin Manuel and our new farmers have benefited from these farmers."
Mozambique’s colonial and socialist past have contributed to a number of unusual features in its overall legal framework and in particular its property legislation.
All land in Mozambique is the property of the state. It cannot be bought or sold, mortgaged or otherwise transacted. Land is held based on a concession-type arrangement with contracts valid for up to 50 years, and renewable.
Zimbabwe's war of liberation was fought solely for land. Various land laws passed by the racist government of Ian Smith and other colonial governments removed blacks from their ancestral lands and put them in "keeps" for decades.
The rest of Africa, including South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique, is still battling to remove land tenure acts that displaced millions of people.
There are increasing calls in South Africa for redistributive land policies that favour marginalised black people.
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