The government is prioritising ex-liberation warfighters in land allocation across the country’s eight non-Metropolitan provinces.
In a letter to provincial ministers dated June 17 2019, Lands Minister Perrance Shiri ordered the former to prioritise war veterans in land allocation. The letter reads in part:
In line with the noble objective of empowering veterans of the liberation struggle enunciated above, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement is mandated to prioritise the allocation of lands to the gallant sons and daughters of Zimbabwe who participated in the protracted struggle for the liberation of the country.
Hon Ministers, the above allocations of land should ideally be at one place, but if the situation on the ground does not permit, the allocation should at least be in the same geographical area for ease of administration by the war veterans in that province.
… May you further kindly take note that in the event of land disputes, under no circumstances should war veterans have his or her offer cancelled.
Mashonaland East, West and Central as well as Manicaland provinces were all ordered to reserve 1 000 hectares of land for war veterans.
Midlands province was ordered to reserve 2 000 hectares for the ex-combatants while Masvingo, Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North are required to reserve 3 000 hectares each for the former guerillas.