George Maponga in Masvingo

Government has transferred the Chiredzi District Lands Officer Mr Honest Mapfumo to Harare over accusations of improprieties in the administration of land allocations in the flash point district.

Mr Mapfumo was already under fire over reports of allegedly circumventing the Masvingo provincial leadership in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement in land allocations in Chiredzi which is predominated by sugar cane farming.

Sources said he was also now operating as a loner in land allocations after allegedly snubbing the district lands committee.

In a letter by the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Dr John Basera, dated May 19 2021, a copy which is in possession of The Herald, Mr Mapfumo was ordered to report at the head office in Harare on 31 May.

He was also ordered to facilitate the hand-over and take-over processes to a new acting district lands officer designated by the provincial chief lands officer Mrs Tendai Mumera.

In his letter Dr Basera said the decision to transfer Mr Mapfumo was motivated by “reports of administrative challenges on your performance in Chiredzi district.”

Chiredzi is a flash point district in land issues with Government officials usually going under crosshairs for irregularities in land allocations as demand for sugar cane plots remaining high.