Opinion / Columnist
Zimbabwe will not regret taking back land!
20 Oct 2024 at 12:19hrs | Views
ON January 1, 1994, a group of indigenous Mexicans took up arms against their government in what became known as "the struggle of the Zapatistas".
While the idea of an armed insurgency was quickly snuffed, the primary goal of the Zapatistas was land reform and redistribution.
The Zapatistas demanded greater economic justice and the recognition of their rights through a peasant movement, sparking greater political consciousness, especially among the indigenous people in many countries. This peasant revolution was a rise against neoliberalism, which had then begun targeting the land of the people through their government. Today the term Zapatistas now broadly refers to a group of people participating in the struggle for economic justice through land reform.
There is something about the peasants!
They hold the power to shake and worry neoliberals who target their land.
Their efforts even move governments to address the concerns raised by the indigenous people. It has not only been in Mexico where indigenous people fought neoliberals through land reform programmes.
This has been the case in Cuba, Nicaragua and China.
However, in Africa, only one country has comprehensively done so. It is Zimbabwe!
In 1998, Zimbabwe's peasant community led by the late Chief Svosve, Enock Gahadza Zenda, led their own "Zapatista movement", which marked the beginning of the radical change pertaining to the land issue and its ownership. The goal was to shift property ownership from white commercial farmers to mainly black smallholder peasant producers.
Additionally, this sought to reverse the country's bifurcated agrarian structure by race. In this regard, Zimbabwe, as a State and nation, was going to pay a huge price for economic justice through land ownership!
In the contemporary world, the price for economic justice through land redistribution has always drawn harsh economic responses from the neoliberals and global elites.
The price has been economic sanctions, whose intended goal is to subjugate indigenous people and stop them from pursuing a path that "embarrasses or harms" the economic interests of those who acquired the land illegally through settler colonialism.
The land that Zimbabweans acquired during the Land Reform Programme has a historical link that defines the indigenous people's identity, preservation of cultural integrity and willingness to fight the ownership of that land from present and future occupations.
That exercise, nearly 25 five years ago, was noted as one of the largest land reform programmes in the country's history since 1956 as it caught the world's attention, though condemned by the West. To Africans, it sent a strong geopolitical message to people in countries such as South Africa and Namibia on what it means for indigenous black people to own the means of production and shape the political economy of their lives.
The illegal economic sanctions that the West used against Zimbabwe in 2001 and 2002 became a tool of choice to respond to major geopolitical challenges that Zimbabwe was ushering in the region through the Land Reform Programme.
The goal was to make Zimbabwe regret what it had started. There are no regrets that should be felt, especially by black people, when they are being empowered in any form either at their instigation or by the deliberate policies of their Government.
Since the imposition of illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2001 through Washington's Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA), it now means the country has lived under sanctions for half of its life.
It has also been evident that the use of illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe was an extreme reaction by the collective Western establishment that felt it was losing its monopoly. If there is one outstanding element about Zimbabwe's land redistribution exercise, it is that it managed to serve as an illustration of how indigenous peasant solidarity in Africa can abolish injustice and marginalisation of people when it comes to resource ownership.
Land ownership, then racially skewed in favour of whites, was altered to expand the growth of indigenous people's rights while acknowledging that Zimbabwe was positively impacted by its Zapatistas. This was important in drawing attention to the concerning circumstances of indigenous black people, both domestically and abroad, that once they repossess their land, they have the power to influence others.
Now that we have the land, it means people must work hard. That is what economic independence means; it means people must work hard. Undoubtedly, the land reform enhanced the locals' political and economic autonomy.
The programme also increased the national economic participation of the formerly marginalised people who are now part of the success of the land reform story.
While the 1998 Chief Svosve initiative resulted in the extension of political rights for indigenous peoples, it also ensured that their customs, languages and lifestyles would be better preserved. Smallholder farmers are now contributing significantly to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), while they are also accessing new export markets, thereby earning significant foreign currency.
In sectors like the tobacco industry, the indigenous farmers surpassed targets that were previously achieved only by white former commercial farmers. To show that the agrarian reform is irreversible, Zimbabwe's position to compensate former white commercial farmers showcases its ability to give finality to the matter by enabling people to continue with their productivity.
There will be no regrets when it comes to the redistribution of land to the indigenous people. Zimbabwe, through that programme, will continue influencing social dynamics and the balance of power despite the collective West's attempts to politically and geographically isolate the country.
Even in the face of illegal sanctions, the land reform is proof that from the bottom up, the fight for social and economic justice does co-exist with mobilisation for respect of indigenous people.
The restored economic dignity of over 330 000 Zimbabwean households who acquired farms in the face of punitive measures showcases the resilience and determination of the people in the attainment of their goals, both short-term and long-term.
Zimbabwe did the necessary by changing the land ownership structure.
By distributing land and giving the people access to economic possibilities, Zimbabwe improved the country's general prosperity and health.
We will never regret the historic Land Reform Programme!
While the idea of an armed insurgency was quickly snuffed, the primary goal of the Zapatistas was land reform and redistribution.
The Zapatistas demanded greater economic justice and the recognition of their rights through a peasant movement, sparking greater political consciousness, especially among the indigenous people in many countries. This peasant revolution was a rise against neoliberalism, which had then begun targeting the land of the people through their government. Today the term Zapatistas now broadly refers to a group of people participating in the struggle for economic justice through land reform.
There is something about the peasants!
They hold the power to shake and worry neoliberals who target their land.
Their efforts even move governments to address the concerns raised by the indigenous people. It has not only been in Mexico where indigenous people fought neoliberals through land reform programmes.
This has been the case in Cuba, Nicaragua and China.
However, in Africa, only one country has comprehensively done so. It is Zimbabwe!
In 1998, Zimbabwe's peasant community led by the late Chief Svosve, Enock Gahadza Zenda, led their own "Zapatista movement", which marked the beginning of the radical change pertaining to the land issue and its ownership. The goal was to shift property ownership from white commercial farmers to mainly black smallholder peasant producers.
Additionally, this sought to reverse the country's bifurcated agrarian structure by race. In this regard, Zimbabwe, as a State and nation, was going to pay a huge price for economic justice through land ownership!
In the contemporary world, the price for economic justice through land redistribution has always drawn harsh economic responses from the neoliberals and global elites.
The price has been economic sanctions, whose intended goal is to subjugate indigenous people and stop them from pursuing a path that "embarrasses or harms" the economic interests of those who acquired the land illegally through settler colonialism.
The land that Zimbabweans acquired during the Land Reform Programme has a historical link that defines the indigenous people's identity, preservation of cultural integrity and willingness to fight the ownership of that land from present and future occupations.
That exercise, nearly 25 five years ago, was noted as one of the largest land reform programmes in the country's history since 1956 as it caught the world's attention, though condemned by the West. To Africans, it sent a strong geopolitical message to people in countries such as South Africa and Namibia on what it means for indigenous black people to own the means of production and shape the political economy of their lives.
The goal was to make Zimbabwe regret what it had started. There are no regrets that should be felt, especially by black people, when they are being empowered in any form either at their instigation or by the deliberate policies of their Government.
Since the imposition of illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2001 through Washington's Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA), it now means the country has lived under sanctions for half of its life.
It has also been evident that the use of illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe was an extreme reaction by the collective Western establishment that felt it was losing its monopoly. If there is one outstanding element about Zimbabwe's land redistribution exercise, it is that it managed to serve as an illustration of how indigenous peasant solidarity in Africa can abolish injustice and marginalisation of people when it comes to resource ownership.
Land ownership, then racially skewed in favour of whites, was altered to expand the growth of indigenous people's rights while acknowledging that Zimbabwe was positively impacted by its Zapatistas. This was important in drawing attention to the concerning circumstances of indigenous black people, both domestically and abroad, that once they repossess their land, they have the power to influence others.
Now that we have the land, it means people must work hard. That is what economic independence means; it means people must work hard. Undoubtedly, the land reform enhanced the locals' political and economic autonomy.
The programme also increased the national economic participation of the formerly marginalised people who are now part of the success of the land reform story.
While the 1998 Chief Svosve initiative resulted in the extension of political rights for indigenous peoples, it also ensured that their customs, languages and lifestyles would be better preserved. Smallholder farmers are now contributing significantly to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), while they are also accessing new export markets, thereby earning significant foreign currency.
In sectors like the tobacco industry, the indigenous farmers surpassed targets that were previously achieved only by white former commercial farmers. To show that the agrarian reform is irreversible, Zimbabwe's position to compensate former white commercial farmers showcases its ability to give finality to the matter by enabling people to continue with their productivity.
There will be no regrets when it comes to the redistribution of land to the indigenous people. Zimbabwe, through that programme, will continue influencing social dynamics and the balance of power despite the collective West's attempts to politically and geographically isolate the country.
Even in the face of illegal sanctions, the land reform is proof that from the bottom up, the fight for social and economic justice does co-exist with mobilisation for respect of indigenous people.
The restored economic dignity of over 330 000 Zimbabwean households who acquired farms in the face of punitive measures showcases the resilience and determination of the people in the attainment of their goals, both short-term and long-term.
Zimbabwe did the necessary by changing the land ownership structure.
By distributing land and giving the people access to economic possibilities, Zimbabwe improved the country's general prosperity and health.
We will never regret the historic Land Reform Programme!
Source - The Sunday Mail
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