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Innocent Ruwende and Moleen Machingura
GOVERNMENT will not engage officials from the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement when it carries land audits as the majority of them have been implicated in land allocation scandals, a Cabinet minister has said.
Addressing students at the National Defence College on the Land Tenure System and its Implications on national security in Harare yesterday, Lands and Rural Resettlement Minister Douglas Mombeshora said independent personnel would carry the exercise.
“This is almost like a census because we cannot use the very same people who are in the system right now because if we go to a district and say we want you to give us information, these are the very people who have provided wrong information. These are the very people who have provided land to the ten year olds who you are referring to,” he said.
“We cannot trust them with a stern duty to carry out the audit. Therefore, we hope that we recruit people who do not have interest in a particular area. They will move from area to area collecting information just like a census and then we will use that data.”
He said US$35 million was needed to carry out the land audit and representations have since been made to Government.
“Undoubtedly the audit will help us identify vacant land that has not been taken up so that the ministry can re-allocate it to deserving applicants.
“The audit is therefore on the cards but funding will determine as to when this will take off. The ministry has submitted to Cabinet proposals to collect land rentals, which revenue, if collected, will partly be retained by the ministry for use in programmes like the audit or farm by farm assessments,” he said.
Minister Mombeshora suggested that land allocation process be centralised to minimise the number of players involved and to curb corruption.
“We have done quite a lot to fight corruption. We have a guy from Kadoma who is now in prison but I heard last week that he is out on bail.
“I am sure you saw from the papers the district lands officer from Makonde who was arrested is also out on bail.
“We also have another man from our ministry who was picked up yesterday from Zvimba in connection with corruption,” he said.
He said a former councillor from Manicaland was in hiding after selling state land.
Minister Mombeshora is on record saying some children as young as 10 years benefited from the land reform programme.
Online Reporter