Govt Programmes Lack Monitoring & Evaluation: ZANU-PF Official

Zanu PF central committee and Manicaland provincial council member, Moses Gutu, has said that most of the government development initiatives lack proper monitoring, controlling and evaluation.

Gutu was addressing land seekers in Nyanga recently where he revealed that only 35% of the total land allocated under the Land Redistribution Programme in 2000 was in use while the rest, although occupied, was unproductive. Gutu said:

Most farms here were given to tourists, who only come once in a while to visit their farms. The majority of the people on these farms are workers and some owners have since abandoned the farms and workers. We have seen cases of human-wildlife conflict escalating in Nyanga because wild animals are now hibernating in these unused farms.

I invited the Manicaland provincial lands officer, Clifford Mukoyi here, and went around the district. He was satisfied that most farms are vacant, but applicants are told everyday there is no land on offer. Since 2010, we have been told about the land audit, but nothing is coming out of it. Land should be given to those with the interest of farming, not selfish tourists.

Gutu added that although there are issues of climate change, the main issues grounding the Agriculture sector were corruption, misuse of inputs and poor advise from less-skilled Agritex officers.

His remarks are in resonance with the ongoing land audit reports which disclosed massive irregularities. The land reform programme has not yielded expected results yet as the country has been importing agriculture produce since 2000.

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