Zimbabwe MP says don’t give title deeds to new farmers

Shamva South Member of Parliament Joseph Mapiki says people being resettled on acquired land must not be given title deeds because this could lead to recolonisation when they fail to use that land and surrender it to whites.

He says this was tried in Kenya and it failed.

Mapiki also said he was against 99-year leases because of lot of people needed land.

He said some of the farms were too big and must be sub-divided so that everyone gets his or her share of the land.

“There is need to relook at the big farms and divide them equitably because land is our inheritance.  We all want to enjoy that inheritance and that should be looked at expeditiously,” he said.

“If you look at the list of people who do not have land, it is very long.  Everyone wants to benefit and for that war to end, the Commission has to look into that issue,” he said in his contribution to the debate on the Land Commission Bill.

Full contribution

*HON. MAPIKI:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  I am supporting this Bill and I think it should be introduced to the House quickly because there are people from my constituency who have illegally resettled themselves, especially those farm labourers who were left by whites.  I want to remind the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement that when Tongogara was leading the struggle, we were not fighting the whites but we were fighting the system.  There was no equal allocation of land.  So, there is need to relook at the big farms and divide them equitably because land is our inheritance.  We all want to enjoy that inheritance and that should be looked at expeditiously.  If you look at the list of people who do not have land, it is very long.  Everyone wants to benefit and for that war to end, the Commission has to look into that issue.

During the liberation struggle there were no parties which we have these days.  It was only blacks against whites and now all the black people need land.  There is also the issue of boundaries which has to be looked at very closely.  Land officers are seized with this boundary issue and it has to be resolved because A1 and A2 farmers want to live in harmony.  When boundaries were made, we did not have any land policy to follow.

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