500 landless families invade Chiredzi farms
Friday, 23 September 2011 02:00
OVER 500 landless families have invaded farms and wildlife conservancies in Chiredzi District over the past weeks, forcing the National Lands Inspectorate to intervene.
The families invaded such wildlife conservancies as Devuli Ranch in Bikita and parts of Save Valley to allot themselves plots before the onset of the rains.
This follows the invasion of Chidza Farm in Masvingo District by over 1 000 families, mainly apostolic sect members late last month.
This development prompted a National Lands Inspectorate team led by Police Deputy Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga to visit the province and restore order.
Masvingo provincial administrator Mr Felix Chikovo yesterday confirmed a National Lands Inspectorate team was in the province.
He said as the Masvingo provincial leadership, they were working hard to ensure the families were removed from the farms.
“The National Lands Inspectorate is in Masvingo where some landless villagers have invaded wildlife conservancies in the Lowveld,” said Mr Chikovo.
“The team is on the ground to make sure that the invasions of conservancies are halted, while the families that have moved in are removed.
“We recommended to the inspectorate that as a province we are no longer allowing any fresh farm occupations, so the inspectorate team will go on the ground and endorse our resolution as a province.”
Mr Chikovo said no fresh farm occupations will be tolerated.
He said all those who needed land were supposed to formally apply and not to invade farms and conservancies.
Mr Chikovo said the inspectorate would also solve raging disputes over plots and issues of double allocations in the Lowveld.
The problems are prevalent in the Lowveld on sugarcane farms.
Mr Chikovo said the inspectorate will look at all the underutilised sugarcane plots and endorse their reallocation to new farmers who wanted to work on the land.
The visit by the National Lands Inspectorate team to Masvingo comes as the province was battling to secure land to resettle over 3 000 families who would be relocated to pave way for the construction of the giant Tokwe Murkosi dam.
Masvingo province has officially run out of land to resettle people and the provincial leadership was considering resettling some of the families in wildlife conservancies.