Online Reporter
Zvamaida Murwira and Precious Manomano
GOVERNMENT has introduced a digital land administration platform to enable farmers and landowners to process title deeds online, marking a major step in modernising land documentation, reducing fraud and enhancing transparency.
In March, President Mnangagwa launched a programme to issue title deeds to farmers who benefited from the Land Reform Programme.
This initiative aimed to grant full ownership rights to beneficiaries, which has implications for land ownership, bankability and agricultural development.
Previously, farmers could apply for title deeds psychically, but under the new system, one can apply for title deeds electronically using a WhatsApp number or email address from wherever he or she might be and submit it for processing.
The online registration will also result in time efficiency and streamline transactions as well as protect valuable land documents.
The introduction of online registration was announced by Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi in a Statutory Instrument of a Government Gazette published last Friday.
The regulations also outline the nominal fee structure that farmers pay either electronically or online.
“Digital Land Administration Platform (DLAP)” means an automated land administration system that allows online processing of deeds and documents . . . Fees referred to in subsection (1) shall be payable using either the manual process specified in the Second Schedule or the Digital Land Administration System (DLAP) specified in the Fourth Schedule,” reads the notice.
In an interview, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary, Professor Obert Jiri, said the online registration will save farmers with travel costs to Harare or provincial capitals where the ministry has set up one-stop centres.
He said more than 5 000 farmers had walked into their offices enquiring about the title deeds and online registration would provide convenience to them as they would be able to get all the information while at their homes.
