THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission’s (Zacc) recently-launched public education programme themed Campaign Against Illegal Parcelling out of State and Communal Land might signal the turning point in the government’s approach to land corruption in the country.
This is especially so when viewed alongside the Local Government and Public Works ministry’s new policy — the Urban State land Management Policy, which seeks to provide an integrated one-stop policy and give direction to all government departments involved in State land management.
The policy, which seeks to come up with legislation that criminalises unauthorised activities related to urban State land, might deter land barons and other unscrupulous individuals from practices relating to land corruption.
While the whole thing sounds noble, many would want to ask why it took the anti-graft watchdog so long to realise the depth of the problem when incidents involving land corruption were being reported all along.
It is hoped Zacc’s latest approach will not end as another disjointed episode bereft of substance but one that leads to tangible action that should see the arrest and prosecution of known culprits fingered in land corruption.
Urban local authorities have for decades watched land barons invading land reserved for public amenities as well as wetlands and selling the land to home-seekers. The problem has extended into communal land, especially those areas bordering major urban centres.
The source of the problem can be traced back to local authorities, who long abandoned their housing delivery function despite their long waiting lists, which residents pay for in the form of lodgers’ cards, expecting to get residential stands in due course.
Councils’ failures created a void that led to cooperatives mushrooming across the country, but the government subsequently banned them, yet the hunger for land persisted in residents.
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The land barons, the majority of whom are politically-connected individuals, moved in, but have often gone scot-free even when their victims have their properties demolished by councils. They seem to be untouchable.
Just recently, hundreds of families’ dreams were shattered after their homes in Goromonzi were demolished, while property worth thousands of dollars was lost.
Watching families living by the side of the Harare-Mutare highway in this obtaining cold is a sorry sight, but we have seen this before. The City of Harare last year demolished houses in Ridgeview and Belvedere, in the capital and yet the local authority watched as these properties were going up.
We are all aware of the several wetlands in Harare, Chitungwiza and beyond, where houses have sprouted up. The land barons do not seem to care as long as they pocket the dollars.
It is time authorities deal decisively with land barons.
