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Raymond Jaravaza, [email protected]

THE recent wanton evictions of resettled innocent villagers from their homes across the country was not sanctioned by authorities, suggesting that the genuine blitz against land barons has been hijacked by a “third force” hence the Presidium has ordered urgent investigations into the matter, Zanu-PF secretary-general, Dr Obert Mpofu, has said.

Following the blitz against land barons, close to 4 000 suspects and squatters have been arrested across the country with 985 convictions in the courts, while 3 360 cases are pending trial since January in an exercise meant to clamp down on the proliferation of illegal settlements.

The blitz against land barons, however, has resulted in the loss of homes for thousands of people while the perpetrators of illegal sale of land walked scot free when the land barons should be the ones that suffer the consequences of illegal land grabbing and profiteering from the sale of the land, lamented Dr Mpofu in an interview with Chronicle over the weekend. 

He said President Mnangagwa has since ordered investigations into the wanton eviction of villagers from their homes, an exercise that the ruling party did not sanction.

“That exercise (eviction of people) was not a Zanu-PF sanctioned exercise and as the ruling party we are sorry that it ever happened. The eviction was done during the absence of His Excellency President Mnangagwa and he has personally told me that he was not aware of the evictions,” said Dr Mpofu. 

“We (Zanu-PF) have had a very successful election, where we won resoundingly against our distractors so it’s unbelievable that the party that did very well, especially in the rural areas, would now turn against its own people and evict them from their homes, which is why I’m saying that the evictions seemed to protect land barons against innocent villagers.

“I will say it again that the ruling party was not responsible for the eviction of villagers. The land reform programme is a Zanu-PF programme, we are the party that got the land on behalf of the people, so we cannot turn against our own policy of resettlement and displace our own people during the rainy season and without giving them alternative places to stay. That’s callous and Zanu-PF is very disappointed with what happened.”

Dr Mpofu said the ruling party strongly condemns what happened and was actually keen to know who was behind the evictions, as such an operation was not a Zanu-PF programme and certainly not a Government programme. “The President should be aware of any national programme being implemented, but His Excellency has said he is not aware of any exercise to evict villagers from their homes and neither do his vice presidents,” said Dr Mpofu. 

In places like Nyamandlovu, hundreds of villagers were affected by the evictions and Dr Mpofu said that he personally paid bail for over 100 villagers that had been arrested for allegedly occupying land illegally. The cases are still before the courts.

“It is clear that the displacement of villagers seemed to protect land barons and victimise innocent villagers. I phoned the officer commanding Matabeleland North just as the arrests of the villagers were starting and he said the directive had come from above and I asked him who is above the secretary general of Zanu-PF other than the President and his two vice presidents?” he said. 

“I have since got written communication from the Joint Operations Command (JOC) disassociating itself from the eviction of villagers from their homes across the country.” 

Dr Mpofu called upon those seeking land to approach the right offices and not be tempted into buying land from individuals. 

“We are saying where people need land, they should approach the right offices. We are aware that there are some senior people in Government and even in the ruling party who have been corruptly selling land and those are the people that are supposed to be targeted,” he said. 

“Those people are known yet the focus seems to be on the ordinary people, innocent villagers and we are saying   that is not right and it’s unacceptable.”

He said the land barons seem to be mostly targeting people in the diaspora who are buying land for exorbitant prices. Take for instance, Dr Mpofu said in places like Ntabazinduna, grazing land has been sold illegally, while in another situation, Insuza people have been reportedly fleeced of their monies by corrupt officials who are illegally selling land, as well as some places in Nyamandlovu.

“The President has said the evictions must stop immediately and right now authorities are investigating what really happened with a view to finally rectify the issue and His Excellency will take appropriate action when a report is handed to him,” he said.

“There will be no sacred cows when arrests are made and once it has been proven that crimes were committed, it won’t matter whether one is a senior party or Government official, action will be taken by the relevant authorities,” he added.