It is against this background that reported corrupt activities in the Department of Lands in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement should be swiftly dealt with and the actors smoked out and prosecuted.

The department has reportedly degenerated into a haven of corruption where a criminal cartel of officers, demand bribes for land allocations under the notorious “something for something and nothing for nothing” operation motto.

Their target, it is said, are Zimbabweans based in the diaspora that want to invest in land back home.

Land is a critical resource for Zimbabwe as the economy hinges on the resource and it is important therefore, that those charged with its distribution are morally upright individuals whose decisions will have a positive impact on the country.

It would be a great disservice to the country to allow criminals to take charge of such a strategic institution of the country and use it to pursue narrow personal interests at the expense of the nation.

The Government has been proactive in eradicating this rot by reviewing the policy on allocation of vacant land and restructured the Provincial and District Lands Committees to curb the rampant corruption.

While this is commendable, the Ministry of Agriculture should make sure that those corrupt individuals are identified and removed from the Lands Department and handed over to the police for prosecution.

Members of the public who have fallen victim to these criminal elements are urged to report to the Ministry and police so that the perpetrators are accounted for.

Addressing senior officers in the Lands Department attending a land management and distribution meeting in Gweru yesterday, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Dr Anxious Masuka said:

“The Lands Department now has a bad reputation. The department has degenerated into a haven of corruption activities as officers demand kickbacks in land allocations and that is very bad. We need to clean that image now by doing the right things in a professional manner,” he said.

Dr Masuka said there are land officers, whose offices are only accessible to people that can afford to pay kickbacks.

“There are land officers whose offices are entered only by those with something in their pockets. Something for something and nothing for nothing, and that is corruption in land allocation. Corruption, corrupt activities must stop henceforth,” he said.

To show how corrupt some land officers have become, Dr Masuka said he has been receiving phone calls from land seekers, who reveal to him their schedule number, which should be a confidential matter.

“The land officers who would have received kickbacks go to the extent of giving confidential information about the process of land allocation. Planning, preparation of schedules and numbers are done by the ministry officials, but I get phone calls from people giving me their schedule number. That shows that the officer will be trying to please his/her benefactor because such information as schedule numbers are private and confidential,” he said.

Dr Masuka said land was an economic enabler which must be allocated to deserving people so that agriculture contributes to the growth of the economy in line with Vision 2030.

“Land is an economic enabler; the land must be used to unlock value and must be allocated in a transparent manner. Land can be used to maximise the productivity of the agricultural sector so that the country earns foreign currency,” he said.

Dr Masuka reiterated the need for lands officers to be fair and transparent.

“There is a backlog of about 250 000 people who applied for land and these applications should be dealt with in fairness and transparency. We must do away with corruption,” he said.

He said the revised guidelines on allocation of land will target multiple farm owners, abandoned farms, derelict land and underutilised farms.

“Government has also now issued revised guidelines to provincial and district land committees to ensure that the first four categories are the priority categories for identification of vacant land and for the allocation of land.

“As a civil servant, I think you should strive to leave a lasting legacy in the area of operation. Now we have land officers who set targets, for example, to have two Mercedes Benz vehicles in two years from corruption, which is wrong.”

The land issue remains a sensitive matter in relation to the country’s development as Dr Masuka rightly says, must be allocated to deserving people so that agriculture contributes to the growth of the economy in line with Vision 2030.