MDC Alliance Demands Involvement On Land Reform Programme

MDC-Alliance legislators says they want to be allocated farms under the historic land reform programme.

MDC, MPs told the National Assembly during the ministerial question and answer session that most of them had applied for land, but none had been allocated farms.

Zengeza West legislator Mr Job Sikhala had asked Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Anxious Masuka if any member of the opposition had been allocated land.

“There are many people from the opposition who have applied for land. We have heard that land is being distributed on a partisan basis.” He said.

Moreso, Southerton legislator Mr Peter Moyo asked why Government was taking long to identify land not being used so that opposition members can also benefit.

“How many members from the opposition have benefited. We are all Zimbabweans and we deserve to be allocated land.” He added.

However, Zanu PF legislators intervened and Minister Masuka said there was no discrimination on land allocation.

“When we started the land reform, it was a fast-track process and it was done at district and provincial level. These allocations were not integrated at head office, which is why we undertook an audit and the process was painstakingly slow,” said Minister Masuka.

Government sharply accelerated land reform in 2000, bringing the bulk of private rural land into State-ownership with the aim of reallocating it on lease, to address inherited colonial land imbalances, to ensure that all land was productively farmed, and to allow the Government to control the creation of over-large estates.

Furthermore, the Zimbabwe Land Commission which is dealing with identifying unused land is also saddled with more than 8 000 land disputes which it has to resolve.

This development comes after the MDC party allegedly denounced the land reform programme at home and abroad for the last two decades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Journalist, writer and photographer

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