Konrad Adenauer Stiftung - Displacement of Minorities by Anna Fadeeva

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

Tawana H. Nyabeze The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

Introduction

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

Tawana H. Nyabeze

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

Published by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation (KAF) 26 Sandringham Drive, Alexandra Park Harare, Zimbabwe

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The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

“All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States of America(1801–1809

There has been much scholarly contribution to the field of minority rights protection and the history of International minority rights, particularly its bases and causes. There is no doubt that the idea of minority rights protection is at the epicentre of a democratic society, almost invariably the two concepts of democracy and minority rights co-exist, for one cannot assert to be living or to be part of a democratic society which does not uphold the rights of the minority. The concept of human rights protection is a legal concept that requires constant perfection and development.1 This has been largely hindered by the principles of nationalism in socio-economic and political frameworks particularly in developing countries which face the dilemma of economic development for the majority which causes the displacement and marginalization of minorities and on the other hand the protection of the minority at the expense of economic and political viability. The other major problem in the implementation and protection of minority rights is the question of who is a minority. The questions such as what is the definition of national minority and who are the members of a minority community, and what the criteria are for determining the membership are the complex additional problems in the field of nationalism and legal studies2.

Thornberry, Patrick. “An Unfinished Story of Minority Rights.” In Anna Maria Biro and Petra Kovacs (eds). Diversity in Action. Local Public Management of Multiethnic Communities in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest: LGI, 2001 2 Dragana Kovačević Ethnicity Research Center Belgrade International Minority Protection System

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

The term minority rights can be defined in one of two ways: one they are normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, religious or other minority groups, and two they are collective rights accorded to minority groups. Civil rights activists fight to ensure that individuals get the same rights as the majority even though they are part of a minority. They seek to prevent bigotry or the denial of fundamental rights based on ones race, religion, creed, sexuality or ethnicity. In human history large groups have often sought to deprive a smaller group of certain rights in order to gain an advantage. The term “collective rights” refers to the rights of people to be protected from attacks on their specific minority. As a race we have made great strides in the past hundred years to wipe out poor racial relations. Of course there are some individuals today who still choose to be bigoted; however most governments have claimed that this is not fair and goes against human rights, the end result is what may be termed minority rights. To sum it all up in a sentence, minority rights are any and all rights that are designed to protect a minority group from being persecuted for being in any given minority group. Internationally there are a number of legal documents that encompass the protection of minority rights. The Charter of the United Nations makes no mention of minority rights per se, but it does include several provisions on human rights, including Article 1 (3), which identifies as one of the purposes of the United Nations the achievement of international cooperation “in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is an initial point for discussing international minority protection, as the first truly important and binding document dealing with it the Covenant was adopted in 1966. In December 1992, the most important non-treaty text devoted to minority rights was created, that is the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe the coming of a new constitution in 2013 brought about new provisions and cemented old ones from the previous Lancaster House constitution which encompass the recognition of minorities, but all these rights on paper will be rendered nugatory by the absence of a specific policy on transitional justice and the re-visiting of prior human rights violations and addressing them head on. This piece is therefore primarily focused on the incidents of minority displacement in Zimbabwe due to socio-economic policies undertaken by the government and the legal framework governing the rights of minorities and the mandate of the State to ensure economic viability and development. At the end of the paper the discussion will have laid out the complications that have been time and again resurgent in the nation as pertaining to minority rights protection and the need for reform and a legal framework devoted to this aspect of third generation rights.

Legal Framework Internationally as indicated above the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities is the most important framework establishing minority rights. The Minorities Declaration contains progressive language, including as regards minority participation in the political and economic life of the State. In addition, the preamble recognizes that protecting minority rights will “contribute to the political and social stability of States in which they live” and, in turn, “contribute to the strengthening of friendship and cooperation among peoples and States”. Among its more noteworthy substantive provisions are: Article 1 1. States shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

Article 2 2. Persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life. 3. Persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in decisions on the national and, where appropriate, regional level concerning the minority to which they belong or the regions in which they live, in a manner not incompatible with national legislation. Article 4 2. States shall take measures to create favourable conditions to enable persons belonging to minorities to express their characteristics and to develop their culture, language, religion, traditions and customs, except where specific practices are in violation of national law and contrary to international standards. The United Nations International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights also provides a standard on the protection of minorities and some notable provisions include Article 27 In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language. The United Nations has further contributed to developing standards for the protection of minorities with the adoption of the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief3.

General Assembly resolution 36/55. See also D. J. Sullivan, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Advancing the freedom of religion or belief through the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Religious Intolerance and Discriminationâ&#x20AC;?,American Journal of International Law, vol. 82 (1988), p. 487.

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

Regionally the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, also called the Banjul Charter, was adopted by the African States members of the Organization of African Unity in 1981 and entered into force five years later. It should be noted that the Charter is innovative in comparison with the other regional human rights instruments in placing special emphasis on the rights of “peoples”. Although the Charter does not make specific reference to minorities, its protection of peoples’ rights has been interpreted by the African Commission as according protection to minorities 4 . Some of the noteworthy provisions include. Article 2 “Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status”. Article 26 “States parties to the present Charter shall have the duty to guarantee the independence of the Courts and shall allow the establishment and improvement of appropriate national institutions entrusted with the promotion and protection of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the present Charter”. Article 7 Guarantees the right to fair trial. This provision has been interpreted in a decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights involving the protection of a linguistic minority in a bilingual state. The Commission ruled that, “since not all the citizens are fluent in both languages, it is the State’s duty to make sure that, when a trial is conducted in a language that the accused does not speak, he/she is provided with the assistance of an interpreter, failing to do that amounts to a violation of the right to a fair trial.5

United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commisioner: Promoting and Protecting Minority Rights , A Guide for Advocates 5 Communication no. 266/2000 Kevin Mwanga Gunme et al v Cameroon (2009)

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

In that context the article is a form of protection for the rights of minorities particularly in language. In Zimbabwe the supreme law of the land being the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Act of 2013 has various provisions some explicitly providing for minority rights but mostly complementing each other in creating protection of minority peoples. Some of the noteworthy provisions include inter alia: Section 3 Founding values and Principles (1)(d) Zimbabwe is founded on respect for the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diverse cultural, religious and traditional values (2)(f) the principles of good governance which bind the state and all institutions and agencies of government at every level include inter alia the fostering of national unity peace and stability with due regard to diversity of languages customary practices and traditions. Section 6 Languages (3)(a) The state and all institutions and agencies of government at every level must ensure that all officially recognised languages are treated equitably and (b) Take into account the language preferences of people affected by governmental measures or communications Section 56 Equality and Non Discrimination (3) Every person has the right not to be treated in an unfairly discriminatory manner on such grounds as their nationality, race, colour, tribe, place of birth, ethnic or social origin, language, class, religious belief, political affiliation, opinion, custom, culture, sex, gender, marital status, age, pregnancy, disability or economic or social status, or whether they were born in or out of wedlock. There has not yet been promulgation of an Act of parliament specifically catering for the protection of minorities in Zimbabwe. This large gap in the domestic law is one of the major reasons behind the improper implementation and enforcement of the principles of minority protection and the consequences of such can be seen in the internal displacement of such minorities in Zimbabwe. 10

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

In analysing this predicament the paper will focus on the displacement of the Tonga people, the land issues in Zimbabwe, the displacement of the Marange people in the Eastern Highlands and the Tokwe Mukosi disaster. It is only by taking this analytical approach that we can truly lay bare the problems associated with minority rights and the aspect of displacement attached to it. 1. The Tonga people The Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe (also called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Batongaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;) are a Bantu ethnic group of southern Zambia and the neighbouring northern Zimbabwe, and to a lesser extent, in Mozambique. They are related to the Batoka who are part of the Tokaleya people in the same area, and also to the Tonga people of Malawi. The Tonga in the Zambezi valley in northern Zimbabwe had lived a life of splendid isolation which had allowed them to live a traditional way of life unhindered by colonialist policies at the time enabling them to hunt for meat and fish from the great Zambezi river for survival, the Zambezi river was indeed their lifeline. It should also be understood that this isolation meant that little or no development took place in this area and there were no schools and clinics which left the Tonga people marginalised from the rest of society. The Zambezi Tonga people lived for many generations by the fast-flowing Zambezi that in 1957 separated what was then the Federation of Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia (now independent Zambia and Zimbabwe). The people on both sides of the river were very closely related by inter-marriage and friendship. These Tonga were moved away from the riverbanks, the river was dammed and it slowly filled the whole valley forming a huge artificial lake, 280 kilometres long and approximately 25 kilometres wide - Lake Kariba6.

The People Of The Great River, The Tonga Hoped the Water Would Follow Them, by Michael Tremmel and the River Tonga People

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

Tim Mathews notes that "The Dam, sited at Kariba Gorge, flooded the whole of the Zambezi Valley upstream of it and compelled the resettlement of the whole population of both north and south banks. More attention was paid to the animals and rescuing them, than to peopleâ&#x20AC;?7. The developmental process of dam construction in this area envisaged a number of advantages which would obviously include fishing, recreation, tourism, agriculture and irrigation. What is disturbing is the fact that none of the Tonga people were ever consulted pertaining the resettlement process and possible compensation for their loss which was attributed to the social ties they had with the great Zambezi river, their religious shrines and culture. The District Commissioner and the Minister of Native Affairs of Southern Rhodesia in 1955 had no intention of creating an equitable dialogue with the Tonga leaders relating to the resettlement of the Tonga people in the Zambezi valley. The situation can be largely attributed to the colonialist capitalist relations that were occurring between the natives and white settlers. The Tonga people were forcibly resettled to the semi arid Binga area in the Matebeleland province where they would face the harsh reality of no water supply and the arduous task of rebuilding social and economic ties without the help of the then Rhodesia government. The government of Zimbabwe after attaining independence had to face the mountainous task of revisiting these past human rights violations on the Tonga, a succinct principle of transitional justice. Tonga community has scored a ďŹ rst for minority languages in Zimbabwe following the formalization of Tonga language in schools in Zambezi Valley basin that borders Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Tim Matthews in Lwaano LwaNyika: Tonga Book of the Earth).

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

Tonga language was in October 2011 ofﬁcially tested at Grade 7 level for the ﬁrst time in the history of Zimbabwe and the constitution of Zimbabwe now recognises Tonga language as an official language 8 . Zimbabwe in this regard should be commended for taking positive steps to address these issues. More consideration should be put in channelling developmental projects to the Binga region in Zimbabwe, the Tonga people have been marginalised for over half a century and it is the place of the government to address the atrocities done to the Tonga by the colonialists by enabling aid and resources to the Matebele area. The new legal era we are living in under the 2013 constitution should ensure that clinics, hospitals, schools and other infrastructural development projects are initiated in Binga just as is carried out in other parts of the country, otherwise the result would be unfair discrimination on the basis of ethnicity a derogation to section 56 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Government should also encourage civil society and other Non Governmental Organisations to help develop the Binga area and promote cohesion amongst the Tonga and other sectors of the Zimbabwean society, only through this will the government ensure that justice is carried out. The creation of the Human Rights Commission envisaged by section 242 of the constitution of Zimbabwe should be taken into consideration when addressing human rights violations, past and present. Section 243 provides its functions as inter alia; to promote awareness of and respect for human rights and freedoms at all levels of society and to recommend to parliament effective measures to promote human rights and freedoms. The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission created by section 251 of the constitution is also a starting point for addressing issues of transitional justice. Its functions in section 252 provide for amongst others; to ensure post conflict justice, healing and reconciliation and to recommend legislation to ensure that assistance including documentation is rendered to persons affected by conflicts, pandemics and other circumstances.

Section 6 (1) states that “the following languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Khoisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, Sign Language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa are the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe”.

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

These channels that are provided for in the constitution should be exploited fervently in tackling the issues of minority rights and transitional justice. 2. The Land Issue The land reform programme in Zimbabwe was initiated by the Lancaster House Agreement and it was aimed at redistributing land to the majority blacks who had been disenfranchised by the colonial whites in Rhodesia9. Accordingly land was to be distributed on a willing buyer willing seller scale with the British Government offering assistance. This arrangement was honoured by parties to the agreement between 1979 and 2000 with the British government paying up to 50% for the acquisition of land by the government. Relations between the parties turned sour when Britain was no longer in a position to offer financial assistance to the Zimbabwean government and the fact that land redistribution was taking a long time to realize owing to the fact that most white farmers were not willing to give up their land. This position should be understood with reference to the 1923 case of In re Southern Rhodesia10 which held that the Rhodesian land belonged to the Crown and not the British South Africa Co the black natives were not even considered as being potential owners of the land. The Mugabe led government of Zimbabwe was not supposed to alter the agreements of the Lancaster House Conference for 10 years, In 1985 Parliament passed a new Land Acquisition Act which allowed the Government the right of first refusal on all large scale commercial farms put up for sale.7 years later there was enacted the Land Acquisition Act no. 3 of 1992 which amongst other intentions was promulgated to speed up the Land reform programme and to alter the ethnic balance of land ownership. The Act enabled the State to compulsorily acquire land owned by white commercial farmers, but this was not enough to counter the effects of colonialism in the marginalization of native Zimbabweans.

Lancaster House Agreement, 21 December 1979.SOUTHERN RHODESIA CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE HELD AT LANCASTER HOUSE, LONDON SEPTEMBER DECEMBER 1979REPORT Printed in England for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Burrup, Mathieson & Co., Ltd.S661980/MP Dd. 593426 K40 1/80 10 [1919] AC 211

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

In 2000 after the draft constitution proposed by the government aimed at enabling the compulsory acquisition of land by the state had failed to come to life in a referendum, war veterans had seen enough and decided to institute what has been officially termed the “Fast Track Land Reform Programme” which was characterised by violent marches and the forceful removal of white farmers from their land. By 2002 the War Veterans Association had "killed white farm owners in the course of occupying commercial farms" on at least seven occasions, in addition to "several tens of [black] farm workers"11. The question that remains to be answered is who is the minority? Is it the marginalised black natives who had been dispossessed of their land by the colonialists in 1890 and had been marginalised through the processes of primitive accumulation giving rise to capitalism in Zimbabwe or is it the minority white settlers who had been dispossessed of their land without compensation in 2002. Was the Land Reform Program based on racial and ethnical lines? At the Lancaster House Conference the agreement fortified in the constitution was that Every person who was a citizen of Rhodesia immediately before Independence will automatically become a citizen of Zimbabwe on Independence (by birth, descent or registration, as the case may be, according to his former status) 12 . This qualification therefore means that most of the white commercial farmers were citizens of Zimbabwe and the redistribution of the land should have been done in a more dignified manner so as not to marginalise sectors of the Zimbabwean community in this case whites. The provisions of the Declaration on the Right to Development adopted in 1986 by the United Nations General Assembly should be treated as one point of reference in considering the following issues. The document stated that "every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realised”.

"Fast Track Land Reform in Zimbabwe | Human Rights Watch". Hrw.org. 8 March 2002. 12 Lancaster House Agreement, 21 December 1979.SOUTHERN RHODESIA CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE HELD AT LANCASTER HOUSE, LONDON SEPTEMBER DECEMBER 1979REPORT Printed in England for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Burrup, Mathieson & Co., Ltd.S661980/MP Dd. 593426 K40 1/80 at page 16

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

This entails an operational framework of executing developmental policies by the sovereign government which also recognize the rights of its people to partake and benefit from such, this would go a long way in cementing and unifying the people of the nation into one and at this juncture the words of one local musical group which coined the lyrics, “no peace, no unity, no development” are the quintessence of the need for a policy on minorities and their displacement thereof. According to a definition offered in 1977 by Francesco Capotorti, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, a minority is: A group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a State, in a nondominant position, whose members—being nationals of the State— possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics differing from those of the rest of the population and show, if only implicitly, a sense of solidarity, directed towards preserving their culture, traditions, religion or language.13 From this definition the whites were not a minority, they were ironically in a dominant position though being numerically inferior to the majority natives. This presents the ever worrying defect with most definitions of what a minority is? The lack of a clear universal standard on this position quashes the relevance of minority rights and their application. 3. The Displacement of the Marange People Mark van Boschel, an expert on the footprinting or location of diamond sites, who is based at the World Diamond Centre in Belgium, says Zimbabwe has the largest diamond deposits worldwide and they “are a billion years old”. In eastern Zimbabwe, there is a 70km belt of kimberlite diamonds from the Chiadzwa district of Marange to the Chimanimani Mountains [on the Mozambique border]14

E/CN.4/Sub.2/384/Rev.1, para. 568. The Zimbabwean, ‘Zim’s diamond deposits largest in the world’, 18 May 2011: http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/news/39695/zims-diamond-deposits--largest-inworld.html

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

From the early 1990s, South African diamond mining conglomerate De Beers started prospecting in the Marange area, about 100km south west of Mutare. Geologists interviewed by Human Rights Watch (HRW), in its report, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Diamonds in the Roughâ&#x20AC;? (June 2009), estimated the diamond fields to be spread over a 26-square-kilometre area. The first discovery of diamonds was by De Beers in 2002.There is contestation over ownership of the deposits. Government wrestled ownership from Africa Consolidated Resources in 2006 following the discovery and subsequent artisanal mining of the diamonds by villagers.15 The mining companies in the Marange diamond area which include Marange, Mbada, Anjin and DMC, which have been certified to sell their diamonds on the international market by the Kimberley Process caused the displacement and resettlement in May 2011 of villagers from Chiadzwa in Marange communal area to make way for diamond mining. By December 2011, a total of 600 families had been resettled at ARDA Transau farm in Odzi in Manicaland Province 25 km from Mutare. Villagers were involuntarily moved from the Chiadzwa diamond fields and relocated at ARDA Transau farm. In the first phase of relocation, displacement abridged the education of 33 primary school and 30 secondary school pupils. Some students have since dropped out of school. The rest had to undergo a period of adjustment to new learning and teaching environments. Changing schools also entails additional costs to parents related to purchase of new uniforms and ancillary costs.16 Displaced families had hoped for a wide range of entitlements. Common forms of compensation range from transport cost, compensation for lost economic and non economic assets, lost income and common property resources. So far displaced people got three types of benefits. The mining company hired lorries to move them and their livestock from the mining concession to ARDA Transau farm.

Involuntary displacement and resettlement to make way for diamond mining: the case of Chiadzwa villagers in Marange, Zimbabwe Crescentia Madebwe Victor Madebwe and Sophia Mavusa Journal of Research in Peace, Gender and Development (ISSN: 22510036) Vol. 1(10) pp. 292-301, November 2011 16 Supra note 2 at page 294

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

Each household irrespective of size was paid a once off US$1000 disturbance allowance and 4 monthsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; supply of groceries valued at US$400-480. Mine officials promised to distribute food to each family once every 4 months until the next harvest. The food items consist of basic food items like maize meal, rice, sugar, salt, beans, kapenta (dried fish) and cooking oil. Categorically the Marange people have been displaced by the developmental programmes in the diamond areas, the fact that they are actually a minority is evinced by the marginalisation and dependence these people have had on their topographical area and reliance on their immediate natural surroundings for cultural and societal identity. The numerical distribution of the Marange with a bias in the Eastern Highlands is also a contributory factor to their classification as a minority. It therefore reiterates that the determination of who is a minority does not solely depend on any one factor but a culmination of circumstances which suggests marginalisation of an inherently small proportion of the populace. Development-induced displacement is primarily a socioeconomic issue associated with loss or significant reduction of access to basic resources on which communities depend. Physical abandonment of the existing residence shall therefore be secondary to the loss of access to material resources such as land, pastures, forests and clean water as well as intangible resources such as socio-economic ties.17 It is submitted that one of the main aims of economic development is to ensure the advancement of the socio-economic wellbeing of peoples. Those responsible for policy however should reflect on three fundamental questions: what is the purpose of economic development, who benefits from it, and by what means should it be implemented?18

Bogumil Terminski DEVELOPMENT-INDUCED DISPLACEMENT AND RESETTLEMENT: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS AND CURRENT CHALLENGES Geneva, May 2013 18 Supra note 1 at page 26

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples requires States to consult and cooperate with indigenous peoples to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before undertaking development activities that might have an impact on them. This should guide any sovereign when undertaking any developmental activities including diamond mining, this ensures that consensus is reached as pertaining to ancillary issues such as resettlement and reduces the incidents of derogations on minority rights. The Marange people should be put in a more favourable position as regards their resettlement and it is submitted that their compensation is a progressive operation that can still be addressed and the sovereign needs to tackle these issues head on in order to improve the welfare of such people. 4. The Tokwe Mukosi Floods. The Tokwe Mukosi project is a developmental venture that anticipated the construction of a dam in the Masvingo area that would cater for irrigation and water supply needs in the semi arid area. The dam was intended to be the largest inland dam in the country, situated at the confluence of the Tokwe and Mukorsi rivers. During the construction of the dam, unexpected heavy rainfalls early in 2014 resulted in the dam filling up before construction was finished which resulted in the flooding of the Tokwe Mukosi basin, heavy rains in late January and early February 2014 resulted in flooding around Tokwe Mukosi Dam with displacement of people, coupled with destruction of livestock and property.19

UNICEF Zimbabwe CO Situation Report # 2 Date: 14 - 17 February 2014

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

A National disaster was declared by the President on the 9th of February in order to mobilise more resources to assist affected families in the Tokwe Mukosi area . The government then launched a USD20 million appeal to the international community to urgently assist 60,000 people in the Tokwe- Mukosi flood basin who had been affected by the floods. Over 3,500 families are based at the Chingwizi camp after they were relocated there from the Tokwe-Mukosi area by government in February. 20 At first it seemed as if government had stepped up to the plate and acted swiftly in the relocation and resettlement of victims in the wake of this catastrophe. In mid March the Tokwe-Mukosi Rehabilitation and Resettlement Trust which represents families affected by the floods and advocates for their rights divulged that government had stopped supplying aid to the victims in the Chingwizi camp in a bid to force the victims to resettle at another smaller camp. Ablution and sanitary facilities are limited and most people use the bush to relieve themselves. It is estimated more than 800 primary and 500 secondary displaced pupils are not going to school. The distribution of the humanitarian aid has been associated with corruption, favouritism and abuse of the vulnerable groups, especially women and girls. Some of the humanitarian assistance has not been reaching the intended beneficiaries21. Whilst government efforts to spearhead the relief support to Tokwe Mukosi flood victims is commendable, the institutional processes which have been set up to deliver this service have culminated in an abrogation of human rights in the Chingwizi camp and have actually magnified the suffering of the people in the Tokwe Mukosi area in Chivi District.. The problems occurring in the Chingwizi camp and other resettlement camps can be attributed to the lack of a responsible protocol mechanism attributed to evacuation, aid supply and the institutionalisation of relief mechanisms.

SW Radio Africa Tokwe-Mukosi flood victims being denied food aid Posted by Tichaona Sibanda on Tuesday, June 3, 2014 in Floods, Zimbabwe politics 21 Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe Situational Report January 2014- April 2014

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

The general disregard of minority rights has hamstrung the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s policy towards enactment of national legislation exclusively dealing with this area of the law in Zimbabwe.

The Displacement of Minorities: The Evolution of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination in Zimbabwe

Conclusion Through the colonial periods when the Tonga people were dispossessed of their cultural and socio economic rights by being forcibly ressetled to the Binga are to the Tokwe Mukosi disaster that recently happened in 2014 what is clear is that the lack of an implementation framework and institutionalised process of minority rights has magnified the occurrences of derogations on human rights and racial and ethnical discrimination. The general disregard of aspects such as Transitional justice and a clear sanction or reprimand on instances that stink of the social rot of graft and profligacy has resulted in perpetual suffering for marginalised sectors of the populace. This has been worsened by the lack of a clear jurisprudential basis for the definition of minorities at international level and locally which as highlighted in the section on the land issue has rendered minority rights or the so-called third generation rights unenforceable, mischievous and vexatious. This can however be countered by government policy on relief aid, a clear protocol mechanism relating to resettlement of sections of the society, transparency in developmental projects and the enactment of legislation exclusively dealing with this aspect of the law otherwise the stance adopted from the colonialists pertaining to racial and ethnical discrimination will continue to subsist at the cost of national unity, development and justice.

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