Zimbabwe's Road to Freedom and Land Reclamation

Nationalism and the Struggle for Land Restoration in Zimbabwe

May 11, 2009

The nationalist struggle in Zimbabwe was largely a fight to end white domination over African land. After independence in 1980, a new chapter opened with land reclamation

Between 1889 (the year of the establishment of the British South African Company (BSAC), and 1969 (with the passing of the Land Tenure Act), the land question became the centre of economic and political life of Rhodesia. Under successive white regimes, the Seizure of black land was supported by legislation and backed by force. It was against this background that African nationalism was born in Rhodesia.

Nationalism and the Struggle for the Land in Rhodesia

African nationalism in Rhodesia was born largely out of resentment against the abuses of colonialism in general and land expropriation in particular. This nationalism went through two distinct phases. The first phase stretched from 1890 until the 1960s. This period was void of military confrontations except for early insurrections against settlers in 1893, 1896 and 1897. As historian Terence Ranger observes, it is widely believed that the spirit medium – “Nehenda” issued commands for these attacks.

The peaceful stage of nationalism saw the formation of lobby groups, trade unions and political parties which aimed at addressing the plight of Africa’s especially over the problem of land ownership. Among the many of such groups were, the Rhodesia Bantu Voter’s Association and the Rhodesia National Association. There was also the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union, the African National Congress and the British Africa Voice Association.

The second phase of nationalism began in the 1960s. This was the transitional stage. It was marked by a gradual departure from the Lancaster Constitution especially its “willing-seller, willing-buyer” clause which greatly restrained the government’s ability to act independently over the land. Mugabe gradually enacted laws to free his government of these restrictions

The third stage of land reforms was the violent stage. At this stage, the “Chimurenga” or war of liberation reached high gear. “In Zimbabwe,” observe historians Hasu Patel and H.H.H. K Bila, “the progressively increasingly radicalization of the people…was in critical measure a function of the growing consciousness over decades of dispossession from Lad and other resources at the hands of successive settler colonial regimes.”

There were two main nationalist groups that championed the struggle for independence in Rhodesia. The first was the Zimbabwe Africa National Union - ZANU, under Ndabaningi Sithhole and later Robert Mugabe. The second was Zimbabwe Africa People’s Union, ZAPU. Other groups involved in this struggle were the United Africa national Council (UANC), Zimbabwe United People’s Organization (ZUPO) and the African National Congress (ANC).

Except for (ZUPO) all Liberation groups received support from the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and several eastern European countries. With their determination to end colonial rule at all cost, and with vast external support, these liberation groups answered colonialism with fire. In the words of Patel and Bila, they moved from “non violence and constitutional negotiations to sabotage campaigns and ultimately to guerrilla war.”

The Twilight of British Colonial Rule in Rhodesia

The Rhodesian independence struggle and the entrenched interests it generated lasted from the mid 1960s to 1979. it was characterized by butchery and savagery on both sides peace efforts also failed successively from 1971 until 1980 when independence was achieved.

To prevent communists from taking advantage of the chaotic situation in Africa, the US joined Britain in a desperate search for peace. After several failures in 1976, 1977 and 1978, a conference was finally summoned in Lusaka. Britain accepted her responsibility to decolonize Rhodesia and a ceasefire agreement was reached. The Lusaka Conference provided the basis for the Lancaster House Conference that marked the end of British colonial rule.

The Lancaster House Conference marked the climax of diplomacy in colonial Rhodesia and it ended both the guerrilla war and white minority rule. It opened on the 10th of September 1979 and ended on 15th September 1979. Each group or country present at the Lancaster Conference had an interest in the land. The several contradictions that followed after Lancaster revealed the conflict of interest in the Lancaster Constitution.

The most important clause of the Lancaster Constitution was the “willing Seller, willing buyer” clause. It was on this basis that the British government agreed to fund law land reforms. The Lancaster Constitution has learnt itself to several interpretations, reinterpretations and deliberations misinterpretations. Every attempt at understanding the land reforms under Mugabe should be weighed against the failures of the Lancaster Crisis.

While Britain insists that she has respected her commitments to the Lancaster Constitution, Mugabe bases his arguments for land seizures on the claim that Britain has reneged on her promises made in Lancaster. These arguments and their resultant consequences continue to define the contours of Zimbabwe’s political and economic life. Each side has its supporters and detractors in this old dispute. But the real victims are the people of Zimbabwe.

Patel, Hasu H and H.H.H Bila. “The last becomes the first. The Transfer of power in Zimbabwe” in Prosser Gifford and Roger Louis (eds). Decolonization and African Independence:The Transfer of Power, 1980.

Fowale, Tongkeh Joseph. “The Politics of Land Reforms in Zimbabwe 1980-2005: International Responses” 2007.

The copyright of the article Zimbabwe's Road to Freedom and Land Reclamation in African Colonialism is owned by Tongkeh Joseph Fowale. Permission to republish Zimbabwe's Road to Freedom and Land Reclamation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.