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Edgar Vhera Agriculture Specialist Writer

THE Zimbabwe Land Commission (ZLC) has decentralised its operations to all the country’s eight agricultural provinces in a move designed to give citizens easy access to its services.

ZLC secretary Mr Piwai Mawire revealed this at the ongoing Zimbabwe Agricultural Show in Harare yesterday whereupon he spelt out the mandate of the commission.

“ZLC is a constitutional commission born out of the constitution of Zimbabwe amendment of 2013 to oversee issues of agriculture land. It is mandated to look at transparency, fairness and accountability when it comes to land management and administration. The commission was put in place on July 7, 2016.

“Section 296 of the constitution talks of the way the commission was established, with 297 outlining the functions of ZLC,” said Mr Mawire.

In order to improve on the use of land for agricultural production and productivity the commission carries out audits, which can be twice every year or once every five years.

“ZLC carries out periodic audits on agriculture land every five years. The purpose of the five-year audits is to check on who was allocated land, where, what they are actually doing and the developments carried out, production, productivity as well as challenges,” continued Mr Mawire.

The main aim of the audits is to help ZLC to give evidence-based recommendations to Government. ZLC also resolves complaints and disputes on agricultural land.

Some of the challenges on settled agricultural land are occupancy, inheritance, succession, boundaries and divorce among others.

ZLC carries out alternative dispute resolutions for farmers to co-exist as neighbours. It also carries out routine farm inspections, which are done not more than twice per farming year on each agriculture land. It is thematic based – focussing on environment degradation, production and productivity issues.

The commission also does inspections and gives recommendations to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development (MLAFWRD) for the issuance of 99-year tenure document for A2 farmers.

“ZLC is an evidence-based and does inspections for SI 62, which talks of farms that were erroneously gazetted by Government though belonging to indigenous people as well as being BIPPA farms,” indicated Mr Mawire.

Mr Mawire also said the ZLC was a think tank for the Government on agricultural land management and administration that gives recommendations to Government on alienation, allocation, utilisation, degradation, fair compensation, and transfer of right.

He also gave a background highlighting that the first commission was put in place in 2016 and had nine commissioners led by Mr Tendai Bare who had a deputy and seven other commissioners.

Mr Mawire also revealed that the current commission was put in place in October 2021 and it is led by Commissioner Bare deputised by Commissioner Abdul Nyathi with two other commissioners Lorreta Marembo and Philip Severa.

ZLC is decentralised to all agricultural provinces, and has a secretariat members headed by provincial managers.

The following are ZLC provincial contact details where farmers can visit in order to improve on land utilisation and conflict resolutions:

Mashonaland East – 0279 2325537

Mashonaland West – 0267 2123416

Mashonaland Central – 0266 210603

Manicaland – 020 2061307

Masvingo – 039 2260744

Midlands – 0254 2106003

Matabeleland North – 0298 63669

Matabeleland South – 0284 2821178

“We are grateful that the ZLC is exhibiting at this year’s show for all along we thought it was under Ministry of Agriculture. Now we know where to lodge our complaints, especially on the sharing of infrastructure,” a farmer from Shamva, Mrs Mavis Maremba observed.