daniel chigunwe
Mutsawashe Mashandure
Herald Correspondent
Government is committed to ensuring accountability, fairness and transparency in the administration of agricultural land that is vested in the state towards a prosperous and empowered upper-middle society by 2030, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development Anxious Masuka said yesterday.
This is critical to eliminating corruption in land administration, enhancing investment in land, boosting production and productivity, stimulating industrialisation, and stimulating rural development in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1) towards the full realisation of Vision 2030.
The Minister, who was represented by Deputy Minister Vangelis Peter Haritatos at the National Consultative Stakeholders Validation Workshop, advised the nation to establish key policy interventions towards ensuring that the full basket of land rights is enjoyed.
“Our task this day is reviewing and establishing key policy interventions towards ensuring that the full basket of land rights is enjoyed by our people across all categories of land, no one and no place, as we go together and build on our President Mnangagwa’s mantra ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’,” he said.
The minister reminded the nation that Zimbabwe does not exist in isolation but is a member of the global village.
“Please be reminded that Zimbabwe is not existing in isolation; it is an active member of the global village.
“Therefore, let’s ensure that our propositions are benchmarked against international best practices as we occupy our rightful global position through operationalising our commitments to Agenda 2063—the Africa we want—and Sustainable Development Goals”.
He added that policy interventions on land must create a conducive environment that promotes the enjoyment of land tenure rights.
“Given these international standards, let us, therefore, ensure that our policy interventions on land tenure contribute to creating a conducive environment that promotes access and enjoyment of land tenure rights for all categories of people and does not discriminate against women, girls, youths, disabled persons, or veterans of the liberation struggle.
“Zimbabwe has become a pacesetter on land matters, and the whole world is waiting to take notes and benchmark their land administration and management systems against ours.
“It is also important, ladies and gentlemen, comrades, and friends, to be mindful of our history in order to shape the future on this topic”.
The Minister added, “It is my humble wish that this National Consultative Stakeholder Review meeting on the Review of Systems of Land Tenure in Zimbabwe is as candid as is possible as we interrogate the draft report findings and recommendations in order to contribute significantly to posterity and the building of our nation, Zimbabwe, ‘Towards a prosperous and empowered upper middle-income society by 2030’, with job opportunities and a high quality of life.”.
He said through Section 71(2) of the Constitution, Government is committed to ensuring a vibrant land tenure system in Zimbabwe where all people are secure on their properties.
The Constitution states that every person has the right, in any part of Zimbabwe, to acquire, hold, occupy, use, transfer, hypothecate, lease, or dispose of all forms of property, either individually or in association with others”.
Speaking at the same event, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Harare Metropolitan Province Charles Tavengwa said the strategic meeting provides an opportunity for candid interactions.
“ I really appreciate meetings like this one because they provide an opportunity where we meet as different provinces and discuss strategies that will complement Government efforts in catapulting Zimbabwe towards a prosperous and empowered upper middle-income society by 2030, with job opportunities and a high quality of life.
“Land tenure is a cross-cutting issue that affects all our people, both in the rural provinces and metropolitan provinces. I am therefore eager to learn and contribute during this discussion so that issues affecting Harare as a province are also addressed through this report,” he added.
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