Village heads under fire over illegal land sales

Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
Scores of village heads in the Mushandike Resettlement Area are facing arrest for illegally selling land, resulting in overpopulation at Masvingo’s largest irrigation scheme. The illegal land sales are also blamed for causing siltation of Mushandike Dam that supplies irrigation water to Mushandike Irrigation Scheme. Illegal settlers are reportedly behind the rampant siltation of the dam as some of them are accused of engaging in streambank cultivation and wanton logging of trees.

“We have strangers who are coming in large numbers to get land for settlement in our area because of greedy village heads who are selling land illegally,” said one villager who refused to be named. The land is being parcelled out illegally with the full knowledge of some senior Government officials whom we suspect are also benefiting. We wonder why they are not doing anything to stop this rot if they are also not involved. The irrigation scheme will soon be non-existent unless the problem of illegal land sales and parcelling is urgently stopped.”

Villagers alleged that survival of their livestock was also under threat as people were also being illegally resettled on land meant for pastures.

“Some village heads have become a law unto themselves and land should be parcelled out according to the laws of the land,” said another villager. “Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement officials should be the ones allocating land, not village heads.”

Masvingo North National Assembly member Cde Davis Marapira confirmed there was rampant illegal land parcelling at Mushandike and surrounding areas.