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Leonard Ncube – [email protected]
SOME land barons, traditional leaders to be specific, are reportedly conniving with their subjects to sell pieces of communal and State land to evade detection and arrest.
This comes as illegal parceling and unauthorised occupation of land is rampant countrywide with village heads allegedly at the centre of the corruption.
Most communities have lost grazing areas and land for expansion for their children as land is sold to those with money.
There are also concerns about disregard for local culture by illegal settlers who are usually not predominantly from the areas they occupy.
In light of the illegal activities and sprouting of illegal settlements on undesignated land such as grazing areas, fields, reserved land and also on water bodies, wetlands and vleis, Government directed all local authorities to cease selling or allocating communal and agricultural land.
Government has condemned without reservation, the illegal settlements, occupations, parceling out and selling of land without permission from relevant authority.
Illegal occupation of land leads to haphazard land use, land degradation, collapse or shortage of infrastructure, exposes communities to hazards such as floods and diseases, while also exacerbating climate change and affecting food security.
The Government has reiterated through its various departments and agencies that according to the Land Commission Act, it is a criminal offence in terms of the the Gazetted Lands (Consequential Provisions) Act to occupy State land without lawful authority that is extended to a land seeker through a permit, offer letter or lease depending on location.
Government uses various strategies to regularise land use, including setting up the Zimbabwe Lands Commission that carried out a land audit exercise on over 254 000 farms countrywide and constituted a Land Information Management System that will help guide the nation especially tackling multiple farm ownership, double allocations and illegal occupation among other areas.
Traditional leaders, although being custodians of communal land, are not allowed to sell land, which ideally belongs to the President and is represented by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement.
Section 72 of the Constitution places land under the State and it is only the Minister who is authorised to issue tenure documents on agricultural land as he administers relevant Act as assigned to him by the President.
Investigations by the Chronicle around Matabeleland North province revealed that illegal parceling of land was rampant especially in Hwange and Umguza districts where illegal settlements have sprouted.
In some areas, the illegal settlements have become urban areas in a rural set-up with modern solarised buildings, water and sanitation and other infrastructure albeit sitting on prohibited land.
Most of the illegal settlers are diaspora based Zimbabweans and businesspersons.
The Chronicle established that problem areas in Umguza are in Insuza wards 8, 9, 11, and villages three, four and 12, Ezibomvu, Tobotobo and Phase 1 and 2 and Nyamandlovu where illegal pegging of stands is ongoing, around Inyathi in Bubi.
Villagers have been left virtually with no grazing land.

In Hwange District, there are concerns about illegal settlements at 5 Miles near St Mary’s, and outside Victoria Falls in Monde, Chisuma. Lupinyu and Sizinda areas.
Monde village is now more like a satellite town with solarised affluent houses haphazardly located in grazing land.
Tour operating companies also fenced off the greater part of communal and state land as well as reserved forests leaving villagers with no grazing land.
The whole stretch from Masuwe River along the Zambezi River up to Chisuma has been parceled and livestock no longer has grazing land, leaving villagers with the only option of driving their cattle into the wildlife infested forests west of the community.
Traditional leaders in the communities outside Victoria Falls have over the years been openly selling land and now some have resorted to hiding behind some villagers and claim they are the ones selling part of the land.
Some have been subdivided their fields and sold to property developers who have built commercial homesteads and lodges.
Government has been made to believe that illegal parceling of land has gone down as there are few cases being recorded compared to some months ago.
“Illegal parceling of land has decreased because of measures being taken and arrest of criminals and we hope people especially traditional leaders continue to heed President Mnangagwa’s call to shun corruption,” said Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Richard Moyo.
He said Government will continue through its various agencies to address and regularise land allocations until sanity prevails. Minister Moyo said no political or traditional leadership, and or Government worker is allowed to allocate or sell land as it is the preserve of the provincial lands committee and local authorities on behalf of Government.
However, the picture on the ground shows that village heads have re-strategised to avoid arrest.
“Village heads are hiding behind villagers to sell land indirectly through their subjects. You will find that the whole of Monde and Chisuma no longer have grazing land which has been commercialised and villagers are selling off portions of their old fields.
“So what villagers do when they get someone who wants land, they go to the village head and claim that they have a relative who they want to accommodate on their land. So the matter will be taken to the village assembly where the village head will make an announcement to his subjects who will then approve. In the public eye the process is above board but money would have exchanged hands and the village heads get their shares from the one who would have sold his portion. Villagers are given soft drinks and biscuits for attending such meetings. So it will be difficult for the law to catch up with these people as there is no evidence of sell of land,” said a villager closer to the goings on.
Procedurally, one has to get a permit from council to occupy communal land in terms of the Communal Lands Act and traditional leaders are there to interpret culture with regards to land.
They call village assembly meetings when there is someone in need of land and hand over the case to the ward and then the local authority where permits are given and the whole process is free of charge.
Councillor for Hwange Rural District Council Kachechete Ward 3, Givemeagain Moyo said illegal parceling of land has been topical in the local authority.
“Illegal parceling of land is there and the most affected areas are Lupinyu, Jabulani, Monde, Sizinda, Chidobe, Kasibo and 5 Miles. Parceling of land by whoever is illegal and anyone who does that must be arrested,” he said.
Acting Chief Mvuthu of Hwange admitted the issue was rampant in his area but there was no evidence.
“This is a difficult issue because because there is no evidence of a village head who sold land. I implore headmen to bring forward such reports because communal land is not for sale. The problem is with village heads but we were all told to stop allocating land and we expect that to be respected and us leaders to be exemplary,” he said.
Umguza RDC planner Ms Meryln Masuku, while educating villagers in Insuza recently, said no activity should be done on any land without council knowledge.
She was speaking at a meeting organised by the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission (ZACC) to raise awareness among community members about the need to shun the various forms of corruption.
ZACC is employing a whole of Government approach and has been moving across the country with various departments and agencies such as police, Environmental Management Agency, Department of Lands, Rural Infrastructure Development Agency, local authorities and others to educate citizens about good corporate governance at all levels.
Umguza District Lands Officer Ms Moyo said the right procedure for one to get land is through the lands committee which sits at district and provincial level before it seeks authority to allocate from the Minister of Lands.
To be classified as a legal occupier of land, one must have tenure documents like permit, offer letter or lease depending on the model under which they are occupying the land.
This is meant to maintain order and prevent land degradation while also helping in socio-economic planning.
ZACC principal research officer Mr Reuben Mutsvairo warned Government workers against engaging in any form of corruption.
He said the most common forms of corruption are bribery, extortion, sextortion, favouritism, nepotism, regionalism and urged village heads and any Government worker to shun any bad corporate governance.
His counterpart, Dr Munyaradzi Magiga, the public education manager said ZACC has been getting numerous reports of corruption around land occupation and will be forwarded to relevant offices and investigations carried out.
He said the awareness exercise which has covered five provinces was meant to educate the public on corruption and advised those that illegally occupied land to vacate and go back to their original places or approach relevant offices for regularisation.
A few months ago, villagers in Fingo area of Mbembesi in Umguza District petitioned Lands Minister Dr Anxious Masuka as they appealed to Government to investigate illegal sale of land by some named traditional leaders, including Mazizini village head Mr Enock Masuku.
Mr Masuku however defended himself saying the villagers were the ones who were selling their pieces of land to land seekers after failing to develop.
Government launched crackdown on land barons who are allegedly parceling out land creating illegal settlements and getting bribes from land seekers.
Traditional leaders, especially village heads have been implicated.
Over 200 land barons and illegal settlers have been arrested in Matabeleland North since the start of the year for illegal land dealings and among them were traditional leaders, politicians and Government workers.
Investigations by the Chronicle established that bribes received by village heads and other land barons differ according to areas.
Some demand between US$1 000 and US$3 500 for up to 7 acres of land.
Some village heads get even as less as US$600 for pieces of land.
Headman Tshakalisa Ncube of Umguza said “illegal land parceling is rampant in Umguza especially the Nyamandlovu area. I am concerned about village heads because I hear they are the ones at the centre of corruption. They are still pegging and today I say please stop it. Let’s be guided by the Traditional Leadership Act.”
Mr Clement Mukwasi, a lawyer said the constitution is supreme and should be observed in dealing with land issues.
He said it is illegal to occupy land willy-nilly without following set procedure and such actions are not sanctioned by law.
-@ncubeleon