THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission has launched an investigation into the illicit selling of rural land by some traditional leaders and rural district council officials.
Several chiefs
and headman, who preside over communal land close to major towns and cities,
are facing arrest on charges of contravening the Communal Lands Act by
corruptly selling rural land.
Last week, The
Sunday Mail published an exposé capturing the pervasive extent of illegal rural
land sales.
This comes as
the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, July Moyo,
has deployed teams of investigators to probe the menace.
zacc
spokesperson commissioner John Makamure told this publication that dockets for
several cases are being processed and arrests are imminent. “All the received
reports are under investigations,” he said.
“Chiefs,
headman and village heads are public officers and can be charged with bribery
or criminal abuse of duty as defined in section 170 and 174 of the Criminal Law
[Codification & Reform] Act Chapter 9:23.”
He said
investigations into some of the cases will be concluded soon. “The commission
is aware of the illicit and illegal land deals through numerous reports from
concerned members of the public,” said Commissioner Makamure.
“The commission
is seized with a number of reports on illegal land sales and bribery involving
chiefs, headmen and village heads.
“Investigations
into some of the cases have already started and some of the culprits were
convicted while other cases are pending before the courts.”
Section 4 of
the Communal Lands Act vests all rural land in the President. Selling of rural
land has become lucrative business amid a growing appetite for agriculture land
among Zimbabweans.
Commissioner
Makamure said several rural district council officials are also under
investigation.
“The Commission
has noted that Rural District Councils are involved in the illegal land sales
where councils are encroaching into communal land and parcelling out vast
tracts of land that fall outside the jurisdiction of council.” Sunday Mail
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