Permanent Secretary for Presidential Affairs in the Office
of the President and Cabinet (OPC), Engineer Tafadzwa Muguti, speaking at a
recent Zimpapers-organised Land Matters Indaba, which was held on the sidelines
of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) last week, said never again
should the law look at those who illegally sell land yet leave out the buyers.
The indaba was held amid growing concerns over the rise in
illegal settlements mainly on prime agricultural land and peri-urban areas.
Topics that were covered by the speakers, including the guest of honour,
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and
Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri, included land distribution and
economic development, traditional leadership roles, tackling land barons in
urban human settlements, as well as land dispute resolution.
Eng Muguti said illegal allocation of land must and should
carry a more severe sentence than stock theft.
He said going forward, people who buy corruptly allocated
land will no longer be victims but criminals as well.
“On prosecution, we have now started working on a paper,
which will go to the Land Commission and other Government arms like the
Ministry of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to ensure that we now have a
two-tier approach to prosecution,” said Eng Muguti.
“We are tired of prosecuting land barons without the
beneficiaries. It is known how land is acquired and if you choose that you want
to get a stolen bicycle and it’s recovered, you also get arrested, the same
approach must be to the issue of land as well.
“Land criminality should carry a heavier penalty than
livestock theft. People are getting seven to 14 years for livestock theft,
something, which can die naturally. What about something that God doesn’t make
anymore?” he added.
Eng Muguti was presenting a paper on the current trajectory
of land from a Government perspective and expectations of local authorities. He
said one of the grave mistakes during the First Republic era was having
“political animals” that used land as a political campaign tool, saying the
nation has been badly damaged by the issue of political persuasion.
“At some point in the history of Zimbabwe in the old
republic, we have made the mistake of using land to campaign and as a result,
we have found it proper that for me to be a councillor, I need to be able to
have land to give to people because the demand for land is real, it was there
then and it is there till now,” said Eng Muguti.
He said President Mnangagwa has a very clear position on
land, which is order and development that is planned transparently and
diligently.
Eng Muguti also took the opportunity to implore the media
to expose all negative developments and corrupt activities in the distribution and
allocation of land in the country.
He said the media’s role was to professionally expose the
illicit deals, which erode the power and value of the Zimbabwean land.
“Speak candidly about what needs to be done. There is no
country that can attract investment without respect for property rights,” said
Eng Muguti.
In February this year, a senior Government official, Joice
Munamati, a Manicaland Provincial Civil Registrar was arrested by the Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) over allegations of selling State land after
she misrepresented to a buyer that the land was hers.
According to ZACC, Munamati fraudulently sold a 32,5
hectare plot, Subdivision 22 of Wallacedale in Odzi to one Calvin Ziki for
US$15 000 after misrepresenting to him that she owned the land. Herald
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