Land Reform as Deneocoloniality in Zimbabwe

This chapter conducts an analysis of Zimbabwe’s land reform program as deneocoloniality. It argues that the program implemented in the early 2000s was meant to address the injustices, inequalities, and poverty levels caused by colonialism in Zimbabwe. The chapter further argues that the war of liberation that culminated in the attainment of the country’s independence in 1980 was indeed hinged on the land question. Thus, Zimbabwe needed to complete the decolonization process through the land reform program. The chapter notes the use of targeted economic sanctions as a weapon by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and their allies in response to the land reform. The main argument of the chapter therefore is that the land reform was a legitimate vehicle to address the legacies of colonialism, yet the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government went on to use it against its internal opponents who it accused of being allies of foreign neo-imperialists. Thus, much effort was put into fighting internal political opponents instead of the real neocolonialism affecting the country. Existing secondary data on the land reform, targeted sanctions, and other related materials are reviewed in the analysis.