Government has dismissed claims that the return of 67 farms protected under Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs) signals a reversal of Zimbabwe’s land reform programme, describing the move as a legal process meant to resolve outstanding international obligations.
Responding to questions in Parliament on Wednesday, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Anxious Masuka said the initiative represents the consolidation of Zimbabwe’s land tenure system rather than a return to pre-2000 land ownership patterns.
Masuka told legislators that the BIPPA framework is designed solely to settle investment claims protected under bilateral treaties and should not be interpreted as reopening land reform outcomes.
“The BIPPA process is about settling outstanding legal claims and compensating investments protected by bilateral treaties. It does not open the floodgates for the return of all former white-owned farms. The land reform programme remains irreversible,” he said.
He emphasised that the 67 farms constitute a small fraction of land acquired during the Fast Track Land Reform Programme and that implementation is being conducted in line with constitutional provisions and Zimbabwe’s international agreements.
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Government, he added, is simultaneously expanding land tenure security for nearly 450,000 black farmers as part of broader agricultural reforms under the administration of Emmerson Mnangagwa.
According to Masuka, authorities will regularise land ownership through the issuance of permits, leases and offer letters to approximately 360,000 A1 farmers, 23,500 A2 farmers and more than 70,000 farmers in old resettlement areas, in accordance with Sections 289, 293 and 295 of the Constitution.
He said government is also correcting historical administrative errors by returning 840 farms that were wrongly gazetted despite belonging to black farmers — a development officials argue further demonstrates that land reform itself is not being reversed.
In addition, around 10,000 Matenganyika farms allocated before Independence under lease arrangements are set to receive title deeds to strengthen indigenous land ownership.
Masuka further revealed that government has crafted a new framework for 409 former farm owners who remained on their properties through peaceful co-existence agreements with resettled farmers. Under the arrangement, the former owners will be allowed to purchase the farms they currently occupy.
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