Harare, (New Ziana) – The Zimbabw government has frozen the issuance of new 99-year leases, offer letters and agricultural land permits as it moves to introduce a bankable and transferable tenure document, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Zimbabwe has four main systems of land tenure that include freehold (private), State land, communal and leasehold (resettlement).
Briefing the media after Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere said an indefinite moratorium has been imposed on the issuance of new 99-year leases, offer letters and permits for agricultural land.
“All land held by beneficiaries of the Land Reform Programme under 99-year leases, offer letters and permits, will now be held under a bankable, registrable and transferrable more secure document of tenure, to be issued by the Government of Zimbabwe to beneficiaries.
“As such, beneficiaries of the Land Reform Programme will now have enhanced security of tenure to the land they legitimately hold,” he said, adding that priority will be given to veterans of the liberation struggle, youths and women.
“Security of tenure to all agricultural land regularized under this programme, will at all time only be transferrable among indigenous Zimbabweans and the land targeted for the new land tenure system will exclude communal land that is under the jurisdiction of traditional chiefs.”
Muswere said urban land will only be made commercially available to credible and approved land developers who will add value to it in compliance with all relevant laws and protocols, with the aim of establishing high quality housing developments in fulfilment of the vision to turn the country into an upper-middle income economy by 2030.
Areas that are not in use within cities will be considered for urban development with urban renewal, transformation and regularization given priority.
These agricultural and urban land measures are expected to have a huge impact on the country’s economic growth and help unlock the full value of the land while enhancing the performance of our economy, said Muswere.
“This will facilitate accelerated investments in agriculture and associated value chains, which include irrigation, dam construction, power supply, rural road construction,” he said.
“The economic value enhancement on land will further unlock resources for the fulfilment of constitutional obligations related to land reform. All these measures will compliment current efforts towards an upper middle-income economy, which will be achieved by 2030.”
Muswere said President Emmerson Mnangagwa has constituted a Cabinet Oversight Committee chaired by Defence Minister, Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri to lead the reform process while a technical Land Tenure Implementation Committee will also be constituted.
“These committees will work diligently to develop improved security of tenure for land beneficiaries while ensuring that the value of agricultural and urban State land value is fully unlocked to guarantee inclusive and nationwide economic development,” he said, adding that detailed terms of reference have been developed for the two committees.
The government will also put in place all the necessary institutional and logistical mechanisms to ensure the smooth coordination and implementation of these new policies and objectives.
New Ziana
