THE Government has said traditional leaders and their subjects selling State land will be prosecuted as it steps up efforts to combat the practice which is now rampant in communal lands close to urban areas.
Speaking at a media briefing in Harare yesterday, the Permanent Secretary for Presidential Affairs in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Engineer Tafadzwa Muguti, said the Government was, with immediate effect, going after everyone implicated in the illegal sale of State land, particularly in peri-urban areas.
He said there was a misconception that traditional leaders were immune to prosecution, adding that everyone was bound by the laws of Zimbabwe.
“There was a decree by His Excellency, President Mnangagwa that grazing lands should be protected. We are concerned as there is rampant corruption right from district levels.
“There is a disconnect where traditional leaders, district development coordinators and other district officials are making decisions without the knowledge of Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution. They are duping people into illegal land deals,” he said.
“With immediate effect, the Ministers of State are now going to be leading any form of economic developments in the provinces, be it at local authority or district level.
“They are in charge of their provinces so we cannot have a local authority or a district office which is going in a different direction from that of the province.
“We cannot have rampant grabbing of land by headmen and chiefs and the illegal sale of land. All those found to be involved will prosecuted and jailed.”
Eng Muguti said the Government sought to restore order in land allocations and warned illegal settlers across the country to brace for eviction.
“I would like to put it on record that everyone in Zimbabwe is subject to the laws of this country, so His Excellency (President Mnangagwa) has tasked various ministries and departments to undertake robust consultations.
“There is no Zimbabwean who does not have a rural home. Those who have bought land from village heads, chiefs and their subjects should immediately vacate the land before the long arm of the law catches up with them,” he said.
Eng Muguti said investors who had set up factories in communal lands after acquiring land through traditional leaders risked having their structures demolished.
Some traditional leaders are reported to be accepting money to allocate land to people from outside their communities.
Section 282 of the Constitution says traditional leaders have a responsibility to manage communal lands and protect the environment.
Villagers and their leaders have also resorted to subdividing homesteads and selling pieces of family land and pastures to desperate land seekers.
Source: Herald