MUTARE– Local government authorities are worried over a growing trend of home-seekers purchasing communal land for pittances, to use for residential purposes in peri-urban outskirts.
Mutare Rural District Council (RDC) chief executive officer Shepherd Chinaka said unscrupulous individuals are selling communal land as residential stands for profit.
He made the remarks at a Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) Anti-Corruption Indaba aimed towards good governance and improved social service delivery in Zimbabwe urban centres.
Chinaka said some individuals were being duped of their hard earned money by buying residential stands in communal land.
He noted peri-urban areas such Chitakatira and Odzi respectively, as localities where the practice was now prevalent.
“We are worried with people who are buying stands from communal land from some unscrupulous individuals, we recently issued a statement in newspapers stopping people from buying such land,” he said.
Chinaka said government should be stern on ensuring that it reverses such processes as regularization amounts to condoning such behavior among citizens.
Provincial Development Coordinator’s directorate for local government John Misi said local and traditional leaders were over stepping their boundaries by selling off land.
Misi said the local leadership should drive sustainable development plans instead of fomenting illegal deals which aid and abet irregular sell of land.
“Village heads, ward councilor or any such local leadership have no authority to sell off land. The problem that we face is that we have village heads who sell land for cheap prices.
“However when selling this land they will just be granting you rights to use because they cannot sell that land covered in the Traditional Leaders Act. Its communal land which is vested in the President,” said Misi.
Land deals have created an opportunity for arbitrage and corruption, issues that were tackled at the TIZ Anti-Corruption Indaba meant to deliberate on governance issues affecting local authorities and to provide platform for citizens to engage with duty bearers on issues of service delivery.
The Indaba also aimed to find solutions on how to strength accountability, transparency and good governance in the use of public funds.
TIZ is the national chapter of a global network dedicated to promoting transparency and ending corruption, strengthen public support and understanding of anticorruption as well as enhancing public transparency and accountability in public affairs.
