By HRH Princess Eugene Majuru
Harare, Zimbabwe ( News of The South) - The Lippert Concession was a pivotal, yet often misunderstood, agreement in the colonial history of Zimbabwe, then known as Southern Rhodesia. Signed in 1891, it was an attempt by King Lobengula of the Ndebele to regain control over the land rights that had been effectively seized by Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company (BSAC) through the earlier Rudd Concession.
What Exactly was the Lippert Concession?
The Lippert Concession was a land concession granted by King Lobengula to Eduard Lippert, a wealthy German financier. The key distinction from the earlier Rudd Concession was that while the Rudd Concession granted exclusive mineral rights to Rhodes’s agents, the Lippert Concession granted the sole and exclusive right for one hundred years to lay out, grant, or lease all land in Lobengula’s territories in Mashonaland and Matabeleland.
The Parties: King Lobengula and Lippert’s agent, Rennie-Tailyour.
The Purpose (Lobengula’s View): Lobengula was reportedly furious about the deception involved in the Rudd Concession and sought to reassert his sovereign rights over the land, separate from the mineral rights. He intended for the new concession to act as a rival to the Rudd Concession, giving him leverage and frustrating Rhodes.
The Clause: The agreement stated that Lobengula had not parted with any of the land rights of the Matabele, only the right to dispose of land, which he believed retained his ultimate sovereignty.
The Deception and Transfer explained
Despite Lobengula’s intentions, the Lippert Concession became yet another tool for colonization almost immediately.
Rhodes Buys It Out: Cecil Rhodes, whose entire imperial project relied on securing both mineral and land rights, was not about to be challenged. He promptly purchased the Lippert Concession from Eduard Lippert.
A “Colossal Stroke of Thievery”: By acquiring the Lippert Concession, the British South Africa Company (BSAC), founded by Rhodes, effectively used a concession intended to frustrate its land acquisition as the supposed legal basis to grant, lease, and distribute land to white settlers.
Validation of Land Seizure: The BSAC used this purchased concession to justify the widespread expropriation and distribution of fertile land to the settlers of the Pioneer Column. This was despite the fact that, as per official records, the concession did not transfer the sovereign land rights to Lippert in the first place. This provided a thin, but effective, legal veneer for what was essentially a massive land grab, leading authors to describe the acquisition as a “colossal stroke of thievery.”
The Enduring Impact on Zimbabweans
The Lippert Concession, though short-lived under its original owner, had a profound and lasting impact on the indigenous people of Zimbabwe, serving as a critical step in the process of land alienation.
Foundation for Land Expropriation: Along with the Rudd Concession, the Lippert Concession laid the foundation for the colonial state to assert its control over the land, which was completely foreign to the traditional Shona and Ndebele concepts of communal land ownership, where only chiefs and spirit mediums sanctioned settlement.
Settler Entitlement: The concession enabled would-be settlers to acquire farms, often of 3,000 acres or more, of the most fertile Highveld land. This was a crucial factor in attracting white immigration and rapidly establishing a settler community.
The Land Struggle Begins: The seizure of land following the purchase of this concession marked the beginning of a long and painful struggle for land rights and reclamation that would define much of Zimbabwe’s subsequent history, culminating in the First Chimurenga (1896-1897) and the eventual modern-day land reform programs. The legacy of this colonial land dispossession is still felt in the country today.
The Lippert Concession serves as a powerful historical example of how legal instruments, even those created with intent to resist colonialism, were manipulated to legitimize the dispossession of indigenous populations and solidify the colonial state’s control over Zimbabwean resources.
Comments
About Author
