President reads Riot Act to landowners

Oscar J Jeke

ZIM NOW REPORTER

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is reportedly unhappy with his senior security commanders who are sitting on vast tracts of land while the country is faced with poverty.

He has ordered his Lands Minister, Anxious Masuku, to probe why the top brass is not putting the land to good use despite most of them being fertile.

The president reportedly read the riot act to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, together with state security agents, expressing dissatisfaction over non-capitalisation of the land.

From the country’s ten provinces, the Zimbabwe Land Commission completed a five-year audit and created a database, Land Information Management System of all 254 538 farms, excluding communal lands.

The audit revealed that 40% of the land in the country is unused, with most of which is owned by state security agents and top government officials. Most of the land is in fertile and relief region of Mashonaland, East especially in Beatrice.

The President reportedly ordered another conclusive audit, which will bear consequences to landowners who are not utilising the land, in a move to strengthen resilience in the agricultural sector amid a drought season, generating pressure for government to fully utilise such lands in fertile areas.

Contacted for comment, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka’s mobile went unanswered at the time of writing.

In the past weeks, Zimbabwe witnessed withdrawal of offer letters for the unutilised land by the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development ministry. However, observers say the withdrawal will also be applied to security sector officials who hold prime land.