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Zanu PF official threatens to expose multiple farm owners
21 Apr 2015 at 06:20hrs | Views
Zanu PF national deputy secretary for administration July Moyo has threatened to reduce farm sizes of some top government officials and expose multiple farm owners as a way of redressing imbalances in the land reform programme.
Moyo said it was unacceptable for individuals to own huge chunks of land while over 12 000 applicants were on the waiting list, NewsDay reported.
The province has 12 000 people on the land waiting list.
The list of people exceeding the recommended size, was dominated by top Zanu PF officials and war veterans.
According to the report, Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Jason Machaya, and ex-Presidential Affairs minister Senator Flora Buka, all Zanu PF members, own farms measuring 1 500ha (Mvuma), 684,428ha (Kwekwe), and 610ha (Kwekwe) respectively.
"We want to know issues surrounding land allocation in Gweru, it has really become a problem. The party will soon expose all corrupt cases to do with land allocations," Moyo said.
"No one is entitled to possess all the land, it's somehow allocated to you — who are you then to get the whole of this land? Who are you to get allocated multiple stands? We want to see where that will end."
A recent internal audit report showed that some top party officials' farms exceeded the maximum 500 hectares while others had more than one farm each.
The report established that the province could realise close to 28 855.4743ha of arable land if the farmers cited in the report were to reduce their farms to at least 500ha.
Zanu PF central committee member Ben Mataga also owns a massive 1 728,3ha in Zvishavane, exceeding the recommended size by 1 228,3ha.
Former Zvishavane-Ngezi constituency legislator Obert Matshalaga has to his name 953,37ha just outside Gweru, while Leonard Chikomba, legislator for Gokwe-Kabuyuni constituency, owns 1 001ha in Kwekwe.
The land reform and resettlement programme, introduced by the Zanu PF-led government more than a decade ago, was meant to empower the black majority, but top chiefs in the party grabbed large pieces of land, while others were multiple farm owners.
Moyo said it was unacceptable for individuals to own huge chunks of land while over 12 000 applicants were on the waiting list, NewsDay reported.
The province has 12 000 people on the land waiting list.
The list of people exceeding the recommended size, was dominated by top Zanu PF officials and war veterans.
According to the report, Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Jason Machaya, and ex-Presidential Affairs minister Senator Flora Buka, all Zanu PF members, own farms measuring 1 500ha (Mvuma), 684,428ha (Kwekwe), and 610ha (Kwekwe) respectively.
"We want to know issues surrounding land allocation in Gweru, it has really become a problem. The party will soon expose all corrupt cases to do with land allocations," Moyo said.
A recent internal audit report showed that some top party officials' farms exceeded the maximum 500 hectares while others had more than one farm each.
The report established that the province could realise close to 28 855.4743ha of arable land if the farmers cited in the report were to reduce their farms to at least 500ha.
Zanu PF central committee member Ben Mataga also owns a massive 1 728,3ha in Zvishavane, exceeding the recommended size by 1 228,3ha.
Former Zvishavane-Ngezi constituency legislator Obert Matshalaga has to his name 953,37ha just outside Gweru, while Leonard Chikomba, legislator for Gokwe-Kabuyuni constituency, owns 1 001ha in Kwekwe.
The land reform and resettlement programme, introduced by the Zanu PF-led government more than a decade ago, was meant to empower the black majority, but top chiefs in the party grabbed large pieces of land, while others were multiple farm owners.
Source - NewsDay
