One of the most anticipated plenary sessions during this year’s Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA) featured panelists from diverse professional backgrounds to speak on the topic: Colonial continuities and discontinuities: Who has the right to access and own land in Africa”. With Kimani Njogu as the Session Chair, the panel of presenters included Justice Smokin Wanjala, Judge of the Supreme Court of Kenya and Director General of the Kenya Judiciary Academy; Tsitsi Choruma-Dozwa, Commissioner of the Zimbabwe Land Commission, and Jimmy Ochom, Land Rights Coordinator from Oxfam.
Justice Wanjala opened the floor by reminding participants of the ways in which colonial legacies continue to shape land ownership and access, displacing communities and undermining customary systems. Drawing examples from Kenya, he highlighted the country’s jurisprudence that has held since independence, giving priority to land registration by individuals or entities over customary land claims that governed African land before colonialism. He urged members to be careful in their solution-finding in order to not base new laws and constitutions on colonial continuities. He said that, despite being sidelined, customary tenure systems remain resilient and functional in many parts. The challenge posed to participants was to formally recognize these systems and integrate them into modern land administration frameworks.
Ms. Choruma-Dozwa began her presentation by asking participants to reflect on the question: Who has the right to land in Africa? Using Zimbabwe’s history with land acts and agreements, participants were able to follow the formulation and enforcement of discriminatory land acts through to their subsequent discontinuation. The Land Apportionment Act and Land Tenure Act of 1931 and 1969 respectively racially segregated land in Zimbabwe, awarding Europeans and Africans the same amount of land (45 million hectares each) despite the disparity in population (Africans were 95% of the population while Europeans only made up 5%). The unequal distribution of land was at the centre of the independence war in Zimbabwe that marked the beginning of apportioning of African land to Africans. Some of the measures put in place included the decongestion policy where Africans were allowed to live and work on their land. Furthermore, farmers were given priority for settlement to ensure the country did not lose productivity. Other measures were the Land Bank to support new farmers, the inauguration of the Zimbabwe Land Commission. It was also in this process that the Zimbabwe government gave titles to all resettled people. According to Tsitsi, of the resettled people, 20% of the allocated land was given to women in their own right, 7.5% to the youth and 8.5% to war veterans in the country.
As a result of these measures put in place, “Zimbabwe became an agriculturally self-sustaining country in cereal production with the country able to export surplus grains”, she said.
Despite the major progress made in land reforms, some colonial continuities still persist today such as Africans owning the oversized farms left by the white settlers and not being willing to portion it for the resettlement of fellow Africans. Also, sanctions were imposed on Zimbabwe by western nations due to the policies put in place.
On the question of sanctions, she finished by leaving participants with a Shona proverb that loosely translates to ‘He who kicks a frog helps it get over a huddle.’ In this context, referring to the withdrawal of foreign aid, forcing Zimbabwe to become self-sufficient in food production.
Mr. Ochom capped off the session by stressing the importance of inclusive approaches, such as joint ventures for under-resourced farmers. He reaffirmed the state’s role in reclaiming and replanning land for public good. “Colonial continuities”, he said, “can be dismantled by justice and reparations through equitable community-centred governance”. In Uganda, customary tenure is able to co-exist with individual tenure through constitutional frameworks enacted by their government. In conclusion, a lasting solution to the question of land on the continent, according to Mr. Ochom, would be advancing continental frameworks for land justice and reparations from the grassroots to policy level.
CLPA2025 reporting by Nicholas Mokua, Twaweza Communications
Issued by:
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