Minister Mombeshora

Elita Chikwati Harare Bureau
THE Ministry of Lands and Resettlement has identified all underutilised farms countrywide amid indications that applicants on the waiting lists could soon be allocated pieces of land. Lands and Resettlement Minister Cde Douglas Mombeshora confirmed the development in an interview recently. He said the identification process was complete and that the ministry was now verifying information from the provinces.

Cde Mombeshora said the process was long as the ministry had to follow all necessary steps to ensure transparency and accuracy. He said not all big farms would be downsized but those that were underutilised. The recommended farm sizes vary according to ecological region.The sizes range from 250 hectares in region 1 to 500 hectares in region 5.

He said some farms were big in size but had small arable land and could not be downsized. “We have not started downsizing the farms. The process is long. We have identified arable land that is not utilised and all the provinces have submitted their findings to the ministry,” said Cde Mombeshora.

“We are in the process of verifying the facts and finding out if the process was done correctly without intimidation or favouritism. We want to establish the facts before implementing the exercise. We will only allow the provinces to start downsizing the farms after we finish the verification process,” he said.

Cde Mombeshora would not reveal the hectarage of underutilised land. “Every province will submit the names of those on the waiting list so we can inspect the land allocations for transparency. “It’s not possible for everyone to get a farm since land is a limited resource,” he said.

On the evictions taking place in some parts of the country, Cde Mombeshora said there were challenges of cases of double allocations. “The issue of double allocations is also causing farm disputes with others approaching the courts resulting in evictions. Some disputes are about boundaries.

“We’ve always told farmers to approach our offices when there are ownership disputes. Disputes will always continue and will only end after the land audit. Surveys will then give correct information,” he said.