By Correspondent
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands and Rural Development members have revealed simmering tensions within government after disagreements during a hearing on new land title policies.
Committee members expressed strong reservations against the new policy which was being explained to them by the Lands Permanent Secretary Prosper Matondi.
Government is issuing new title deeds which have an expiry date to replace the 99-year leases issued to farmers in 2006-2007.
However legislators feel that the move is a suspect initiative which may end with many farmers losing their land.
The members queried the rationale behind the shift.
Opposition Against Policy
“The previous Minister and his Secretary were issuing permits with no expiry date.
“What is causing all these changes within the same government,” Chivi South MP Felix Maburutse asked.
Bindura South legislator Remigious Matangira also vented against the program.
“We need the Land Commission to understand why the 99-year lease came into effect.
“No one can live beyond 110 years.
“So why are you reducing the title deed tenure, period”.
The arguments have revealed hidden divisions against the program which has been promoted by ZANU PF as groundbreaking.
Other critics argue that giving personal title deeds which will allow farmers to use farms as collateral when borrowing will ultimately lead to loss of land.
Unlocking Land Value
However, proponents of the changes say they will unlock value for farmers.
Land Tenure Implementation Committee chairperson Senator Kudakwashe Tagwirei says the issuance of title deeds to farmers will unlock access to funding and attract investment into Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector.
Speaking recently at a high-level stakeholder meeting, Tagwirei said the committee’s mandate was to transform agricultural land from a largely immovable asset into a productive, tradable and collateralised asset.
He said the new land tenure system would trace the legal journey from payments and offer letters to the registration of enforceable and transferable title deeds.
“The title deed is more than a legal document.
“It is an economic instrument that provides certainty for long-term investment decisions,” Tagwirei said.
