This
came
out
in
the
National
Assembly
last
Thursday
when
Murewa
South
MP
Noah
Mangondo
(ZANU
PF)
raised
concerns
about
the
proliferation
of
illegal
settlements
on
A1
and
A2
farms.
Said
Mangondo:
My
question
is:
What
is
being
done
by
the
government
to
ensure
that
the
issue
of
illegal
settlements
ends,
especially
since
all
these
government
departments
are
failing
to
resolve
this
issue?
In
response,
Lands,
Agriculture,
Fisheries,
Water
and
Rural
Development
Minister
Anxious
Masuka
said
farmers
should
report
the
invaders
to
law
enforcement
agencies.
He
said:
If
you
go
to
the
Lands
office
requesting
them
to
come
and
evict
the
person
who
has
settled
on
a
farm
unlawfully,
you
are
approaching
the
wrong
office.
The
police
department
has
to
sue
those
illegal
settlers.Hence,
there
is
a
need
for
people
to
go
and
report
to
the
police
that
there
are
people
who
are
illegally
settling
themselves
so
that
police
officers
go
and
arrest
them.The
land
inspectorate
section
is
another
department
under
the
Lands,
Agriculture,
Fisheries,
Water,
and
Rural
Development
ministry
that
ensures
the
job
is
being
done
properly.
Masuka
said
that
some
land
invaders
have
been
threatening
land
officers
during
their
visits
to
the
farms.
As
a
result,
the
army
has
been
called
in
to
assist
the
police
with
the
eviction
of
these
invaders.
Said
Masuka:
We
have
four
groups
working
in
the
Lands,
Agriculture,
Fisheries,
Water
and
Rural
Development
ministry.
We
have
also
engaged
the
Zimbabwe
National
Army,
Air
Force,
ZRP,
the
President’s
Department
and
Prisons
to
have
a
joint
operation
command
to
help
the
honourable
minister
to
make
sure
that
the
lands
officer
is
able
to
reach
the
place
where
the
illegal
settlers
are
settled.Persons
who
illegally
settle
themselves
are
breaching
the
law
and
they
must
be
arrested.We
have
now
engaged
the
Surveyor-General
to
mark
boundaries.
Despite
the
government’s
implementation
of
a
comprehensive
land
reform
programme
around
2000,
hundreds
of
thousands
of
Zimbabwean
families
remain
landless.
Reports
indicate
that
large
tracts
of
land
have
been
allocated
to
a
small
group
of
politically
connected
individuals
and
their
relatives.
Post
published
in:
Agriculture