MARUPI BLAST LAND BARONS

Government puts land barons on notice

Selonga|THE Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Omphile Marupi, has issued a stern warning to individuals who are corruptly parcelling out State land, saying the Government was going to make them account for their actions.

He said new policy guidelines indicate that only the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development has the powers to issue tenure documents to beneficiaries as well as the mandate to offer permits.

Addressing villagers at Selonga Business Centre in Gwanda district, Dr Marupi, who is also the Gwanda South legislator, said there were unscrupulous civil servants who have taken it upon themselves to parcel out land in areas reserved for grazing in return for kickbacks.

The villagers had called for the meeting to deliberate on how best their grazing land, particularly the 57 000-hectare Doddie Burn Farm, could be managed to unlock it’s potential.

“Perhaps I should reiterate that in Zimbabwe there is no one allowed to parcel or sell State land. We have had what we call land barons who have been parcelling out and selling State land, leading to areas like our region losing grazing land. As Government, we are not fighting any ordinary citizen but these land barons who a