Villagers in Ward 21, Bulilima District, accuse traditional leaders of illegally selling grazing land

VILLAGERS in Ward 21, Bulilima District, Matabeleland South Province, are up in arms against traditional leaders in the area, accusing them of illegally selling their grazing land to suspected senior civil servants and businesspersons.

The villagers have approached the District Development Coordinator (DDC) to intervene in the potentially explosive matter, which threatens their livestock’s pastures.

In a letter to the Bulilima DDC, Mr Onisimo Togara, seen by the Chronicle, the villagers called on the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) to be engaged in the matter.

“This third note is being submitted to your office as a follow-up to the above matter (sold grazing land). The land has been and is still being allocated to these settlers, who are believed to be buying from the top traditional leadership. Please help us recover our grazing land, from which our forefathers were relocated without compensation, for grazing purposes,” reads the letter from the villagers.

They said the land that was meant to cater for grazing space has been targeted for sale, leaving them landless.

“The situation in Ward 21 is so volatile and now needs your prompt response as we submit this letter,” said the villagers.

This publication also has a response from Mr Togara, in which he notifies the villagers that a meeting to deliberate on the contentious matter has been set for 19 March.

Chief Mphini, whose area of jurisdiction is Ward 21, denied that the traditional leadership was parcelling out grazing land to strangers for kickbacks, saying the area under dispute was no longer used as livestock pastures but is just a thick forest.

“This is an old story, something which was done by village heads. In any event, the area which people are complaining about was no longer used for pastures, as the livestock are grazing at a nearby farm, Sibantubanye,” said Chief Mphini.

He said the Bulilima Rural District Council had targeted the same land for development, as it is closer to their sub-office in the area.

However, Bulilima RDC Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr Billiat Mlauzi, said the council is not involved in the allocation of the land under dispute.

“As council, we are not involved. In fact, we are disappointed that the piece of land has been allocated to some villagers because it was part of our long-term plan as we expand. But on this particular matter, we are nowhere near the allocation of the stands,” said Mr Mlauzi.

Ward 21 Councillor, Dolly Dube, said she was aware of the dispute but is not privy to who is involved in the illegal allocation of the stands.

Cllr Dube said she will be attending the stakeholders’ meeting, which has been called by the DDC.

Contacted for comment, Bulilima DDC, Mr Togara, confirmed that he has been approached by the villagers over the land dispute.

“We are seized with the matter as an office, and a meeting has been scheduled to see how best this issue can be resolved. As you are aware, communal land is state land, which is not for sale,” said Mr Togara.

Communal land refers to land set aside under an Act of Parliament and held in accordance with customary law by members of a community under the leadership of a Chief.

The Government has consistently warned traditional leaders and individuals who are parcelling out state land to desperate land seekers in return for kickbacks, saying such behaviour is a criminal offence. They have vowed to dismiss and prosecute those found on the wrong side of the law.

The warnings were fuelled following an increase in the parcelling out and selling of state land countrywide. Four village heads from Dema in Mashonaland East Province were recently convicted after appearing in court for selling stands in undesignated places and pocketing the proceeds.