Political commentator Mbizvo Jealousy Mawarire has described the Presidential Title Deeds Programme, which seeks to issue title deeds to beneficiaries of the fast-track land reform programme, as fraudulent.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the programme last week with the handover of documents to war veterans from Mashonaland Central, sparking debate over its motives and implementation.
The initiative is being led by the Land Tenure Implementation Committee, chaired by businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, who has said the programme is designed to convert 99-year leases, offer letters, and permits into bankable, registrable, and transferable deeds of ownership.
In an interview with The Standard, Mawarire argued that the committee is not legally constituted and accused it of seeking to exploit farmers under the guise of providing security of tenure. He said:
“There is a Zimbabwe Land Commission provided in the Constitution to perform that function.
“The Constitution and the Land Commission Act are very clear on the functions of the Zimbabwe Land Commission.
“The Zimbabwe Land Commission is the one that is seized with the issues of land tenure, with the alienation and allocation of state-owned land.
“So, having a parallel structure like the Land Tenure Implementation Committee is an affront on the constitution, an illegality. It has no legal basis.
“So, that’s the basis on which I am saying that what Tagwirei and President Mnangagwa are doing is illegal because it is not provided for in the constitution and it is not being done by the rightful constitutional organ, the Zimbabwe Land Commission.
“Mnangagwa and Tagwirei are trying to create a new land tenure system without following the law.”
Mawarire argued that the Constitution clearly stipulates that all agricultural land is vested in the State. He said:
“If it was a programme that was initiated by the Zimbabwe Land Commission or by the Agriculture minister working with the Zimbabwe Land Commission, it could have been an entity provided for in the constitution and legislated through an Act of Parliament.
“In Zimbabwe, the law is very clear. If you read section 290 of the Constitution and section 72 subsection 4, it is very clear that all agricultural land, which is the land that we are talking about, is vested in the state.
“So, if you want to introduce freehold land tenure system, you have to deal with the constitution, you have to amend those provisions in the constitution, which outlaw private ownership of agricultural land.
“In law, there is a principle called expressio unius est exclusion alterius, which means the express mention of one thing is the exclusion of another.
“It, therefore, means that the express declaration by the constitution that all agricultural land vests in the state is an exclusion of private ownership of the same agricultural land.
“Our competent lawyers will agree with me.
“So the law has to be amended first if we want to introduce private ownership of agricultural land.
“But the challenge, for Mnangawa, with amending those constitutional provisions is that he has to go for a referendum because these are provisions that are contained in Chapter 16 of the Zimbabwe constitution.
“Mnangagawa, we have seen even with attempts to extend his presidential term limit, is afraid of a referendum.
“He’s afraid of facing the people because he knows what he is doing has no support among the generality of our people.
“So, any change which has a fundamental bearing either on governance, like presidential term limits, or on the land tenure system in the country, has to be subjected to a referendum.
“And this is what he’s running away from, and that’s why he then created a parallel structure called the Land Tenure Implementation Committee.”
Mawarire insisted that the Land Implementation Committee is unlawfully selling land to beneficiaries of the fast-track land reform programme. He said:
“The vehicle they are using to sell land to beneficiaries of the fast-track land reform programme is not provided for in the laws of Zimbabwe and the land they are selling should, at law, not be allocated for private ownership.
“That makes everything they are doing, including purportedly issuing title deeds, a scam.
“To make matters worse, one day you are told that the title deeds are being given for free to war veterans, but if you go to the agricultural shows, the Land Tenure Implementation Committee is ordering the same war veterans to pay money for title surveys.
“The money is being put in sacks, you know, and in bags. And it is cash being taken from people.
“So precisely, they are illegally selling agricultural land. And they are making people pay US$300 per hectare for title surveys alone.
“If you have 50 hectares, this means US$1 500. So imagine, how many hectares do we have in the country?
“We have in excess of 11 million hectares that are under commercial agriculture.
“So if you multiply 11 million by US$300, you get $3 billion just for title survey. This is before they have done anything on the land.”
More: The Standard
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