By Theresa Takafuma
The government of Zimbabwe seems to have backtracked on the crackdown on illegal settlers, which has seen hundreds of villagers in communal lands being dragged to the anticorruption court, with some completely losing their homes.
The anxiety of the past few weeks that saw the launching of the joint Operation Order No To Land Barons on January 10, 2024 seems to have regenerated into confusion for those affected as government seems to be dragging its feet in implementing the program, claiming to be going after the real land barons, without a clear plan for those alleged to be settling illegally in communal and gazetted lands.
In Masvingo province in the Mushandike area, popularly known as Bhuka, hundreds of families have been reduced to being squatters after they were forced to demolish their own homes during the operation, which was scheduled for January 10 to February 9, 2024.
As at February 29, 2243 arrests and 597 convictions had been made in Masvingo Province, a situation that has seen growing anxiety in communal settlements, especially those that keep making back-and-forth trips to the courts for nearly two months now.
Some of the affected villagers have attributed the shambolic settlement of people without proper documentation to government officials, particularly those from the Lands Ministry, saying the very same people who told them to stay put while they process their paperwork were the ones coming to arrest them.
Recently, 130 Glenhow farm settlers were acquitted on the charge of illegally settling on gazetted land after the complainant failed to turn up in court, despite them not having proper documentation allowing them to settle on the farm.
An official from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development who spoke anonymously said in that particular case, the gazette which was supposed to be produced in court against the 130 settlers could not be found, hence their acquittal.
“The 130 settlers from Gledhow Farm under Chief Bere were acquitted because the gazette which was supposed to be used against them in court could not be found,” the official said.
The official also said that the operation was now targeting land barons more than the illegal settlers, but ironically, hundreds of villagers who were arrested on charges of illegal settlement are still frequenting the courts as their cases have not been finalised.
While tens of village heads were convicted of parcelling out and selling communal land, not much has been said about traditional leaders who allocate land to their subjects, but earlier in the operation, Chiefs from Masvingo Province condemned how government was conducting it.
Zanu PF Secretary General Dr Obert Mpofu was also recently quoted in state media saying that the operation should target ‘big fish’ land barons instead of poor villagers who are victims of those land barons.
Among those villagers however, are some who have been ordered to vacate their homes with immediate effect, failure to which they may be arrested and forced to pay hefty fines.
In Summerton Village 9, a number of affected villagers bemoaned corruption by officials from both the Lands Ministry and the local authority, as the acquisition of the required paperwork that authorizes them to stay there has not been clear.
“Chief Zimuto is the one who took us to the Lands offices around 16 years ago, after which they settled us here and told us to stay put while they processed our paperwork. They came back later with a few permits for some of us, telling us that they recognized us therefore we should remain here while they process.
“They came back once more and asked for the number of those who were yet to receive permits, assuring us that they were going to process them. All of a sudden we started seeing some people coming to build here, being allocated stands between our homesteads, and surprisingly, those people already had permits,” one of the affected villagers, Chizera Rungwe narrated.
She said what pains, as well as confuses her is how people who came nearly a decade after she and her family did, got permits while those who first settled there do not, saying that she believes some people in the village were working in cahoots with those from the Lands Ministry to remove them so they can settle those they want and benefit financially.
Rungwe also claimed that when police came to arrest people in village 9 in January, the following day when they appeared in court an official from Lands Ministry was called and asked if he knew them and he confirmed that he knew them, but when queried why he had facilitated their arrest, he only said they did not have permits.
“I believe the officials are working together with some people in this village to forcefully remove us because when we appeared in court, those from Lands Ministry recognised us, despite them leading police here to arrest us,” Rungwe said.
On the other hand, a number of the eviction cases have been taken up to higher courts, which might see government ministries fighting several civil cases as they are being cited as respondents.
Analysts have however attributed government’s inconsistent land operations to lack of security of tenure for settlers in communal lands, which continuously makes them vulnerable in instances like this.
Midlands State University Senior Lecturer in the Department of Governance and Public Management, Dr Vincent Chakunda, when asked for comment said the legal framework on communal land inherited from colonial times is the one that is still being used, but is detrimental to settlers, who do not have any security on the land they are settling in.
“There is no security of tenure for the masses settling in communal lands, and there is no political will to correct the legalities associated with that as well. The government should just give these communal settlers security on land to avoid situations like these, but then, it may then want to use the land for political purposes, which will remain a challenge,” Dr Chakunda said.
Reports from Mushandike area, especially in Village 15, are saying that some of the villagers who had deserted their homes after being arrested and threatened with further persecution if they remained in their homes are now starting to trickle back in, although they remain in the dark on what government’s next move is going to be.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, together with all the dignitaries who addressed the recent National Youth Day gathering at Mushagashe Training Centre on February 21 avoided the issue, much to the disappointment of many villagers who waited eagerly to hear their fate.
