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The selling of state land is rampant in new resettlement areas where land barons are taking advantage of desperate landless Zimbabweans that want to be resettled. These landless people are being asked to pay up to $400 for a piece of land by the so called village heads.
People seeking land are told by the village heads that they can be allocated land immediately upon payment of a fee and those that are not prepared to pay are put on the waiting list. This has seen a number of people paying to be allocated land.
It is pleasing to note that government is aware of this land scandal that has seen unscrupulous individuals being paid thousands of dollars by desperate land seekers. Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko said government will soon pounce on the land barons that were stealing from those seeking land for resettlement.
“The government is aware of individuals who have given themselves leadership positions and are illegally selling state land,” said VP Mphoko. He said government will not turn a blind eye to the illegal selling of state land and will soon descend on the culprits.
He said the practice was rampant in Matabeleland South province. VP Mphoko who was addressing thousands of people who attended the Matabeleland South Agricultural Show in Gwanda on Saturday, said government will soon arrest the land barons that were calling themselves village heads or headmen.
He said those selling land were tarnishing the government’s resettlement scheme and government would not allow such an illegal practice to continue. VP Mphoko said some of the land barons were threatening people claiming that they were protected by President Mugabe yet they were just thieves taking advantage of people desperate for land.
The selling of land is also rampant on state farms on the outskirts of major cities and towns such as Bulawayo. The land barons have come up with land committees they claim have the backing of the ruling party Zanu-PF. A number of people have lost thousands of dollars to these land barons and we want to implore government to move with speed before more people lose their hard earned cash to these thieves.
Last week 15 land barons were arrested in Harare for allegedly selling state and council land to unsuspecting home seekers. The arrest followed a probe triggered by the mushrooming of illegal resettlement in the capital. The activities of land barons are interfering with the orderly resettlement in both urban and rural areas and should be stopped forthwith.
Most of the new resettlements areas are now congested because these land barons continue to allocate land to individuals that pay money disregarding the area’s carrying capacity.
The government will soon be forced to remove some of these people and allocate them land in other areas hence the call for swift action to stop the illegal selling of state land.
The land barons should be punished severely and be asked to refund the individuals that paid for state land which is supposed to be free. We want to once again implore government to urgently take action against land barons especially in Matabeleland South province.
Online Reporter