News / National
Zimbabwe shelves land audits due to lack of funds
26 Jan 2014 at 08:26hrs | Views
Zimbabwe has shelved plans to carry out a land audit this year citing financial constraints.
The decision came after the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement realised that the $10 million allocation it got in the 2014 national budget was not enough to cater for its requirements, Lands and Rural Resettlement Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora revealed.
Dr Mombeshora said that his ministry, which had put in a $50 million funding request before the budget was presented, will be approaching Treasury for additional funding.
"The ministry has a lot of priorities, and the land audit is one of them, but one has to understand that carrying out an audit needs proper planning, surveys, audit officials and motor vehicles, amongst other things.
"We made the decision to postpone the land audit after realising that half of the $10 million we got in the national budget would be consumed by the exercise," he said.
Dr Mombeshora reiterated that the land audit is of paramount importance as it seeks to address land disputes, cases of multiple farm ownership as well as investigate reports that some resettled farmers are leasing out their farms to former white commercial farmers.
"The idea of the land audit should not be mistaken for a witch-hunting exercise. It is an initiative that will see the country being accountable of its land.
"It is more of a final chapter of the land reform exercise where we know about the productive and non-productive hectares in the country," he said.
Dr Mombeshora added that his ministry will lobby Government to increase the recently introduced land tax from the present $1 per hectare with a view to using the money generated to fund the initial stages of the land audit.
"Since the audit is crucial for the economy, we are now in the process of engaging Treasury to increase the land tax fee from the $1 to a fair fee," he said.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiCZ) said it was important for government to carry out an intensive land audit in order to remedy the imminent hunger which the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC) said would affect 2,2 million people next year.
The decision came after the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement realised that the $10 million allocation it got in the 2014 national budget was not enough to cater for its requirements, Lands and Rural Resettlement Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora revealed.
Dr Mombeshora said that his ministry, which had put in a $50 million funding request before the budget was presented, will be approaching Treasury for additional funding.
"The ministry has a lot of priorities, and the land audit is one of them, but one has to understand that carrying out an audit needs proper planning, surveys, audit officials and motor vehicles, amongst other things.
"We made the decision to postpone the land audit after realising that half of the $10 million we got in the national budget would be consumed by the exercise," he said.
"The idea of the land audit should not be mistaken for a witch-hunting exercise. It is an initiative that will see the country being accountable of its land.
"It is more of a final chapter of the land reform exercise where we know about the productive and non-productive hectares in the country," he said.
Dr Mombeshora added that his ministry will lobby Government to increase the recently introduced land tax from the present $1 per hectare with a view to using the money generated to fund the initial stages of the land audit.
"Since the audit is crucial for the economy, we are now in the process of engaging Treasury to increase the land tax fee from the $1 to a fair fee," he said.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiCZ) said it was important for government to carry out an intensive land audit in order to remedy the imminent hunger which the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC) said would affect 2,2 million people next year.
Source - sundaymail
