ZACC swoops on Masvingo land barons

REGIS CHINGAWO IN MASVINGO

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) is set to descend on land barons, property developers, housing co-operative leaders and politically connected people who illegally parcelled out State land to desperate residents in Masvingo, Business Times learnt.

ZACC spokesperson John Makamure told Business Times that the commission’s investigating team will be following up on the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the sale of State land in and around urban settlements, chaired by Justice Tendai Uchena.

“We now have an investigation team that is currently making a follow up on the report compiled and we are going to ensure that the culprits who illegally sold land will be brought to book”, Makamure told Business Times.

“All local authorities will be investigated and that’s our priority as ZACC for 2021.”

In Masvingo, land barons illegally distributed land especially in Victoria Ranch suburb. It is understood that there were more than six land consortia in Victoria Ranch, home to more than 15 000 people.

Residents want ZACC to investigate the land barons and developers as the area is underdeveloped.

“Victoria Ranch is a forgotten suburb. There is poor road network. These are some of the issues those (land barons) who sold us residential stands must look into.

All our roads need some revamping and I support the development that ZACC is coming to carry out some investigations,” Tendai Chikuni, a Victoria Ranch resident said.

The suburb, residents said, has been facing water crisis. The suburb is currently under the Masvingo Rural District Council’s jurisdiction.

“We have, for the past years, been enduring a water crisis which is not being resolved at all. The boreholes here are not adequate to cater for the population in our area. These land barons are not doing their work properly,” another resident said.

Masvingo Residents Forum spokesperson, Ephraim Mtombeni said residents were happy that ZACC was descending on the city.

“We really embrace ZACC move to descend on land barons as the area is lagging behind in terms of development. Land barons are supposed to bring in development at Victoria Ranch as they made a lot of money by selling residential stands,” Mtombeni said.

He added: “ZACC must investigate how they acquired the land to sell residential stands and also why they are not bringing in developments at Victoria Ranch. We have tried to engage the land barons but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.”

Some of the land barons in the suburb recently hinted that rehabilitation of roads would be done in April.

Government has set up an Implementation Committee to investigate and prosecute dozens of land barons across the country involved in shady urban land deals since 2005.

The move followed findings and recommendations made by the Justice Uchena-led Commission of Inquiry, which was set up by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2018.

The Justice Uchena report on the sale of State land said politicians had created new urban settlements as a way of mobilising political support, there was abuse of political office in the allocation and appropriation of urban State land and the use of names of powerful politicians to exert undue influence on government institutions and processes.

The Commission reported that the State was prejudiced of nearly US$3bn by beneficiaries of urban State land.

The report established that the identification and occupation of farms in and around urban areas was a complex process which resulted in farm invasions by home-seekers, invasions by war veterans for agricultural purposes which subsequently morphed into urban settlements and allocations to co-operatives, trusts and land developers by the ministry responsible for lands and the ministry responsible for local government.