Matabeleland MPs warn of tribal clashes over land

Magwegwe MP, Anele Ndebele (MDC-T) and his Zanu-PF Pumula counterpart, Godfrey Malaba have warned of tribal clashes over the land issue in Matabeleland, as "outsiders" continue to be resettled in the region ahead of locals.

The legislators said the government was sitting on a time bomb over the distribution of land in the region.

"When the farms were taken over by the government, we realised that the resettlement was not implemented as had been suggested," Malaba said in his contribution to the Land Commission Bill last week.

"It is very painful that people come into your home area, where you grew up, you do not benefit and yet the people of that area were supposed to benefit, since it is their area that had been taken.

"I am saying this because in future, there is going to be a tribal war, whereby, our grandchildren will be asking why we have foreigners settling into our area."

The Land Commission Bill, once signed into law by President Robert Mugabe, will operationalise the Zimbabwe Land Commission, whose functions will be to ensure accountability, fairness and transparency in the administration of agricultural land.

In terms of section 297 of the Constitution, the commission will conduct periodic audits of agricultural land, investigate and determine complaints and disputes regarding the supervision, administration and allocation of agricultural land.

Ndebele said he has since 1999 tried to acquire land without success, only to be shocked to see "outsiders" being given land.

"I applied for land in 1999 and like any law abiding citizen, I still await my turn to be given land, so if you have got land, here is a sincere question that you must ask yourself: why you and not the next person?

"This thing is bothering us in Matabeleland, land has been allocated to ‘superior' tribes to the local tribes. This is very true, we may hide behind a finger, but this is the only truth that we have to live with no matter how uncomfortable it is," he said.

"Prime Matabeleland game land has been given to people from elsewhere, where people are making a lot of money every season through hunting quotas. So, the land question in Matabeleland is far from being settled. I will speak for Matabeleland because I come from there. It is a time bomb and this government is sitting on it."