Land, graves and belonging: land reform and the politics of belonging in newly resettled farms in Gutu, 2000–2009

Abstract

The return to ancestral lands has been at the centre of the land reform rhetoric in Zimbabwe. This argument is premised on the fact that many communities were displaced from their ancestral lands during the colonial period hence they saw the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in 2000 as an opportunity for them to ‘return’ to their old homes. This article explores and analyses the issues surrounding land disputes in one village model A1 after the land reform programme and the role played by the regime of traditional authorities in determining how belonging is negotiated. It also analyses the conflicts between autochthons and migrants over the control of the new resettlement areas and over the authority of village heads and chiefs. Claims to land based on ancestral graves and autochthony are also analysed in view of the power of political authorities in land allocation. This paper offers an analysis of the intricacies of land reform in the newly resettled areas and examines the interface between politics and traditional authority on how belonging is negotiated in these contexts. The article is largely based on qualitative interviews with resettled farmers in Gutu, informal interactions as well as personal observations.

Keywords:

• land reform
• restitution
• graves
• belonging
• traditional authorities

Notes

¹The FTLRP in Zimbabwe has received greater scholarly attention elsewhere and it is not my intention to recount it here save to provide a nuance that has so far not been given much attention.

²Base commanders were usually war veterans who led farm invasions and imposed a regime of control on the newly acquired farms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joseph Mujere

This work was in part supported by the Livelihoods after Land Reform small grants fund (http://www.lalr.org.za/zimbabwe/zimbabwe-working-papers-1). I wish to thank Ian Scoones, Joost Fontein, Francesca Locatelli and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the earlier versions of the article.