The short Christian holiday has just gone by, and here is to hoping that you all had a well-deserved rest. Ordinarily this holiday would see most urbanites flock to their rural homes to catch a breath of cleaner air and to enjoy the fresh harvest. This has been hardly the case in Zimbabwe looking at recent years, generally because of a toughening economy and the corrosion of tradition. Most were unable to visit their rural homes, so let’s take this chance to visit home through words. In this snippet, we will discuss the key pillars and a few interesting facts about rural land.
Our rural homes are also proudly known as ancestral land, customary land or communal land. They are sacred and omnipotent, forming our cultural backbone, with centuries of history and identity rooted within. This is a common theme across most of Afrika. The vast differences witnessed now were brought about by the creation of urban epicentres and the derogatory segregation of native blacks during the colonial era. This is the major reason why rural areas are extremely under developed.
Communal land is owned by the President, realized by traditional leaders and held by the people. This means Chiefs, and Headmen rule these lands through cultural tradition. People inhabit this land under the blessing of these leaders, with power and settlement structures inherited from the ancestors. It is known as the customary land tenure system. Yes, you do not exclusively own the land your rural homestead resides. These traditional powers are combined together with Acts of Parliament. The most important ones are the Communal Land Act, the Traditional Leaders Act and the Rural District Councils Act.
One can enjoy occupation and usufructuary rights on communal land – normally agriculture and settlement. These communal land rights are recognized by Law. Apart from traditional leaders, the Rural District Council also governs some commercial stands (growth points where you danced to Sungura last Christmas) and land that is gazetted in communal areas. They can sell or lease this land when approved by the President, through the subject Minister. You therefore cannot legally sell or rent out your rural land since you generally cannot register any title deeds on it.
One pauses to ask, “Does this mean I can wakeup and find my rural home gone?”. It is possible to be displaced from your home. Purposes of which are usually for development or large-scale commercial projects such as mining or dam construction. These can be by private players, government or a partnership of the two. The law provides for certain conditions, e.g. compensation and relocation, to be met to facilitate displacement for the benefit of the affected individuals. It is worth mentioning that government has blindsided locals in this regard as many uncouth dispossessions have occurred fronted by foreign capitalists.
You would want a rural plot of land for yourself, wouldn’t you? This is possible under a subtle provision in the customary land tenure system which allows the Chief to allocate land parcels to settle under certain conditions in tandem with earlier mentions Acts, such as returning to one’s forefathers’ land as an orphan of the village. It is important to emphasize that, the Chief does not sell this land to you. Rural land is predominantly awarded through inheritance and fragmentation among family, with consultation of the village Headman. One can also legally acquire such a land parcel via purchase from the above-mentioned Rural District Council in cases where some land has been gazetted for such purposes.
Lastly, other interesting facts about kumusha or ekhaya include that no one owns grazing land, forest firewood, rivers and dams as these are shared natural resources amongst the community. Most Zimbabweans live in rural areas, close to 70%, that’s about 10 million people. These people are approximately 700 million across Afrika, about 60% of the population. Rural tourism has been on the rise with people travelling to witness cultural practices and natural wonders such as hidden waterfalls in Wedza and the sandy beaches of Binga. An interesting trend of building large, modern mansions as rural homesteads has also emerged, rivaling urban suburban housing. Perhaps this is an awakening into the realization of the value of ancestral lands.
The most important pillar of customary land is the community which dwells within it, from whence the rest of us were birthed, woven together by tradition and held strong by ubuntu – a strong belief in the interdependence of humans in society. We have an inherent responsibility to develop, safeguard and take care of our communal land. It includes service infrastructure and evolution of rule of law to further strengthen these rights. Transfiguring the famous quote, remember that we do not inherit land from the past, we borrow it from the future.
State Of Tenure 