Govt moves to resolve land reform chaos

RICHARD CHIDZA – 

Government is ready to deal with lawlessness in the agricultural sector in order to improve productivity, a cabinet minister said on Monday.

Lands minister Douglas Mombeshora told journalists at a press briefing that all people who occupied land illegally or in an unplanned manner, those on grazing land as well as those who invaded timber plantations, particularly in the eastern districts of the country, would have to go.

“We are not going to protect people who break the law. If you were settled illegally, move out now, if you bought land from these unscrupulous land dealers, move out now,” Mombeshora said.

“We want production to go up and make sure those on the land are utilising it. That is why we have said you must pay rent and if you cannot then leave.”

Mombeshora said the chaos that critics of the land reform attribute to the programme comes when people move onto land in an unplanned manner.

“Even under the Rhodesia era, people resettled themselves, they invaded land, but the most important thing is we are taking corrective action. We are rationalising this to make sure things are back to normal. There are people in Nyanga, Vumba and Chimanimani who are settled illegally on timber plantations. That exercise decimated our once thriving timber industry and they will be removed,” he said.

As Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa last week also told a parliamentary committee that President Robert Mugabe’s “no land for whites” declaration was taken out of context, Mombeshora weighed in saying those willing to share land with blacks were free to stay.

“When the land reform programme started, we had asked white farmers to give us the land that they were not using or at the very least to share with other citizens. Those who wanted heeded our plea, but some did not want to share and they left the country. We then turned to compulsory acquisition because some farmers had multiple farms and did not want to share,” said Mombeshora.

“There is, however, nothing wrong with whites owning land if they are citizens of this country, we are not a racist government. Not all whites remained with large tracts of land as before, we have cut some of these farms so that others also benefit.”

Mombeshora hinted that those resettled under the A2 Model or the commercial farming class would need, in the future, to cede parts of their land to others.

“Land is a finite resource, it does not grow, hence some of the farms issued under the A2 model might need to be cut to accommodate others. I cannot say when that will happen, but the land audit, once it is done, will provide us with an indication of the time-frames for such an exercise,” he said.

Mombeshora said despite the shortcoming, the programme had been a resounding success after over 300 000 blacks benefited.