Talk:Lancaster House Agreement

Minister G Pincus was murdered
Minister G Pincus was murdered after being thrown off a balcony. No information available on this ?? Question - has any fact come to light on who and why ?? The South African Military Intelligence has detailed files on this and the Lancaster House Agreement Talks - which include telephone transcripts and references to this between Lords Soames and Carrington as well as a few other "interested parties". I bet they don't know where their files are right now ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bsrcrgrieve (talk • contribs) 20:31, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

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Hints that the Lancaster House Agreement failed - why?
I first heard about this agreement here: https://www.herald.co.zw/land-reform-domino-hits-south-africa-inevitably/ :


 * "In Zimbabwe, the liberation struggle was fought over land and the Lancaster House Agreement that led to Independence in 1980 recognised the centrality of the land question and set up mechanisms to resolve it. There was going to be a 10-year moratorium on land acquisitions, the land would be sold on the willing seller/willing buyer model and that the international community led by Britain and the US would help Zimbabwe with funds for the exercise, particularly with compensating farmers whose properties would be acquired for redistribution and amenities in resettlement areas. That was meant to work.
 * Well, in the end it didn’t, quite, thanks to the folly of one Tony Blair and his New Labour government that took power in Britain at the turn of the century.
 * A situation developed that led to the inevitable war over land as the people of Zimbabwe, starting with ordinary peasants, reclaimed their land, the land of their ancestors, which Government of the day only moved to regularise in what came to be known as the Fast Track Land Reform Programme. "

So (1) what did Tony Blair do to mess things up? This article needs to explain it. (2) What is the FastTrack Land Reform Programme that supplanted the Lancaster Agreement and how did it work.

Thanks to anyone who can add explanation here Lehasa (talk) 14:12, 3 March 2018 (UTC)


 * I'd be willing to add in something about that, as I'm fixing up the article right now and adding in some sources. Historyday01 (talk) 20:39, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
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 * Hmm, maybe this source can be added back into the article... as the source looks good, but it needs to be incorporated correctly. Historyday01 (talk) 20:40, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

Later developments
Did anyone actually read the sources cited for the claims in the Later developments section? Some of the claims being made are not even mentioned in the citations, and other claims are cherry-picking, and omitting additional contextual information.

Specifically the claims re: the land reform impacts on the broader Zimbabwean economy are so broad, unsupported and dubious. None of the sources are claiming that war veteran payouts, or land reform policies were the cause of Zimbabwean hyperinflation.

Further, the claim that the land reform process was condemned by the international community, while true, is omitting that the source cited for this claim opens with "The international community does not come with clean hands to the current fast track land reform process." and additionally states that "The Commonwealth, which brings together both rich and poor former colonies of Britain, has been more outspoken. However, African countries have refused to endorse sanctions against the Mugabe government introduced by the European Union and United States in response to political violence and restrictions on election observers."

Further context in the source, but not cited in the claim that the international community condemned the land reform policy:

The Organization of African Unity

"reiterated its demand for Britain to honour its colonial obligation to fund the land resettlement programme in Zimbabwe in accordance with the Lancaster House Agreement"

Southern African Development Community

"we think the donors, including Great Britain, have to deliver. They have to fulfil their commitments."

To summarise this in the sentence "In 2000 and 2001, the U.S. and British governments, and the European Union, would condemn the new land reform program, as did other organisations." is egregiously disingenuous. Either that should be removed entirely, or the broader context of the decrying of colonial injustice from other African parties should be included. GxJackson (talk) 07:44, 6 April 2024 (UTC)


 * As the person who edited/improved this article a lot, if you'd like to draft new language for some of those sources, that would be great. I will say it can be a challenge to find sources about the land reform that aren't anti-Zimbabwe and anti-Mugabe, but if you'd like to propose some new language and sources/improvements, that would be great. Historyday01 (talk) 15:33, 6 April 2024 (UTC)