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OpenVillage Heads Caught Selling State Land To Be Treated As Land Barons
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Amon Murwira has warned that village heads caught selling or helping others sell state land will be treated as land barons and face arrest.
Murwira encouraged anyone with proof of illegal land deals to report them.
Reports suggest that village heads, especially in areas like Domboshava, Seke, Nyabira, Rusape, and Chesa Farm, have illegally settled over 10,000 people.
The scheme involves villagers selling land and sharing the profits with the village head. The village head helps new settlers by forging documents and getting them approved by the chief, who is also said to receive a share of the money.
Speaking in the National Assembly, Murwira, who was standing in for Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe, said village heads involved in these activities are considered land barons. He said (via The Herald):
If there are village heads selling land, we call them land barons. It is illegal, with regard to law; they are supposed to be arrested. That is Government policy or that is the law. If there is anyone with concrete evidence like what the Honourable Member alluded to, these people must be arrested, that is Government policy.
Murwira was responding to Albert Nyakuedzwa, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Local Government, who asked about the government’s stance on village heads selling land in peri-urban areas, claiming they had settled over 10,000 people.
Another Member of Parliament raised a concern, alleging that some government workers responsible for overseeing land issues were aware of these illegal settlements but did nothing to stop them.
Murwira replied that if government workers knowingly allowed such illegal activities to happen, it should be considered corruption. He said:
The issue that he is raising is that there are people who work for the Government and local authorities who may know what is happening and all that.
That is what we call corruption, and that is why we have laws that deal with corruption, which must prosecute those people who commit corruption. The question again is, is there such a law? The law is there.
Firstly, they are not supposed to sell land illegally. If they do that, they will be prosecuted. Secondly, people who see people selling land illegally and just keep quiet are also involved in corruption; they will also be arrested. Corruption is illegal; selling land is illegal.
National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Zhemu Soda said traditional leaders do not have the right to sell state land. He warned that those who are selling land could face long prison sentences.
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