THE Government has warned traditional leaders and individuals who are parcelling out State land to desperate land seekers in return for kickbacks, saying such behaviour was a criminal offence.
The Government said it will not hesitate to dismiss and
prosecute those found on the wrong side of the law. The warning comes at a time
when the parcelling out and selling of State land has become rampant
countrywide with four village heads from Dema in Mashonaland East Province
having been convicted after appearing in court for selling stands in
undesignated places and pocketing the proceeds.
To curb the menace, the Government has been carrying out
capacity building workshops within the country’s eight rural provinces to
conscientise traditional leaders on their role and ensure they do not overstep
their mandate. The issue of land distribution in exchange for bribes was one of
the major objective of the workshops. The available land is advertised on
social media as “Sabhuku deals”. The deals are said to be rampant in most parts
of the country, especially in areas near towns and cities.
Responding to questions from Sunday News, Director of
Communication and Advocacy in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works
Mr Gabriel Masvora confirmed that they were receiving reports where village heads were parcelling out State
land and receiving payments. He said their ministry conducted workshops with
the aim of curbing the illicit land deals by traditional leaders.
“The sale of State land is illegal. The duties of a village
head are clearly spelt out in Section 12 of the Traditional Leaders Act 29:17
and do not include allocation of land. Land is allocated by the rural district
council concerned after the submission of names of those who want communal land
to council and a resolution is then made. Our ministry carried out capacity
building workshops from May 2022 to April 2023 at all the eight rural provinces
in every district and the meetings were attended by chiefs, headmen and village
heads. Duties of each traditional leader were explained and illegalities spelt
out. Chiefs and headmen supervise village heads and where rampant sale of land
takes place they are empowered by the law to recommend dismissal,” said Mr Masvora.
He said Section 13 of the Traditional Leaders Act 29:17
spells out the disciplinary action that would be taken in the event of an
offence or misconduct by a village head.
“We continue to engage the Council of Chiefs which is an
assembly of elected traditional leaders and the provincial assembly
chairpersons to continue to raise awareness of the illegality of land sales and
the consequences thereof. Several village heads have been convicted of illegal
land sales in the country with the recent example of Dema village heads who
were convicted on 8 January 2024,” said Mr Masvora.
In an interview, Zimbabwe Council of Chiefs president Chief
Mtshane Khumalo said as traditional leaders, they know that State land should
not be sold and if ever there were traditional leaders selling State land, the
law enforcement agents should arrest them.
“It is known that State land should not be sold, so those
engaging in that will be contravening the law and are candidates for
prosecution,” he said. Sunday News
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