via Bulawayo24 NEWS | Mugabe withdraws A1 offer letters 1 July 2014
Minister of Lands and Resettlement Douglas Mombeshora told journalists at a press briefing ahead of the launch that the new permits will allow new farmers to access agricultural funding from financial institutions “if the banks see it fit”.
Mugabe will launch the Model A1 Settlement Permit at Chipfundi Farm Lions’ Den in Mashonaland West.
According to Mombeshora the new permit will replace the letters or documents that where being issued by district administrators which he said were not systematic.
“We did not have a uniform document and that created problems. The one that we are now issuing will be signed by the beneficiary who can use it to borrow for agricultural purposes. I cannot say though whether our financial institutions will offer funding because what we have done is to create a tenure document that confirms ownership for an unlimited time.
“The beneficiaries can use improvements on the plot and the improvements will also be paid for in the event of a cancellation or the beneficiary opting out of the land,” he said.
He explained that cancellation will only happen if beneficiaries’ violet the terms of the permit issued under the Agricultural Land Resettlement Act Chapter (20:01) in conjunction with Statutory Instrument 53 of 2014.
“Breaches to the permit such as sub-letting, allowing the agricultural land or pastoral operations to decline to unacceptable levels or abandonment will result in the permit being cancelled but we will issue a 90 day notice in which the beneficiary can provide representations on why we should not cancel”.
He added that the permits can be inherited and women have a right to own land and will also be given the new tenure document.
The land reform exercise has been dogged by reports of multiple land ownership for speculative purposes. Critics have also pressured government to issue bankable title deeds to new land owners but this has been shot down vehemently.
“It is by far the most successful and we need to be cognisant of the fact that there was bound to be teething problems such as a dip in production levels.
COMMENTS
It’s like re arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, the banks won’t accept this as collateral for loans, even if they had the money to lend in the first place
Oh right, just a few teething problems to work out and all will be well!
Even the most risk prone unsecured lendor will not give a cent to an A1 farmer, the reasons being they are subsistence farmers trying to eke out a living hence they have no viable business model in place, they have no collateral to offer, in short lending to an A1 farmer is like a person who cant swim knowingly testing deep , rapid flowing, turbulent, hungry-crocodile infested waters with both feet without so much as a blade of grass to hold on to
But the Title Deeds are held by the original owners. What kind of collateral does Bob think he is handing out? Or is it a ploy to quickly redesign the number of farms each land grabber has before the “new audit” is set in motion?
Think of it as a bearer cheque for land! It will have the same value.
The headline was the only thing interesting. The rest was just more of the same to be expected from a bankrupt leadership.
Regurgitating your on vomit. Trying to make news for the wrong reasons. Ru!e of law,property rights and individual rights first. Then get rid of institutionalized corruption. That’s an impossible task for ZANU. Like Suarez’s lethal bite,they cannot help it,destruction is second nature.
Treasonous malcontents.
I agree with you. They are giving the title deeds now when the economic situation is so tough it is hard to see how anyone can succeed.
Our land, our heritage. Nothing wrong with making improvements to the documentation of tenure and ownership- Bottom line is that land is now back with its owners- win or lose!
LOL…. you loose you cretin……go buy some more maize off Zambia and pay a white man for it.
Of pulleeaase,……how far back in history do you want to go? The thieving sods who have a vague Idea about farming truly do not deserve to be handed a bit off land with no collateral cos they don’t ave title, are not interested in farmin. They just want a free place to live.
@ Ndebvu..
Your land, your heritage. Except that the San [who are genetically distinct from the Bantu] occupied Zimbabwe for 100 000 years, and were exterminated by the ancestors of the MaKaranga 1000 years ago.
So it is their land. Their rock art covers the country. It is not your art – and yet you think it is your land. The 2500 San living in Tsholoshto are the owners of the land – and you should pay a land rent to them [British included].
Still the same troop of baboons come to raid the fields thinking the farmer is off guard. You changed nothing because your idiotic proposals are not bankable!!!!! Ko what language do these idiots understand. Give the A1 farmers a break!!! They don’t expect anything positive from you, those who do are illiterate!!! To the so called A1 farmers you’re urged to “make hay while the sun shines” meaning find ways of productive utilisation of twiminda itoto from your own resources, how you come up with the resources ndeye kwenyu, make money and invest it in safer sectors because these are telling signs that one day you will be told to vacate those farms for you’ve no title deeds. Munongove ma farm invaders!!! Take advantage of the farms while BHONGWI, the Sentile Gudo, ponders his next move!!! Ngwarai ma Zimbabweans. Demand title deeds ko makaita sei???
And a whole president puts his face to this hoping to legitimize it by personal involvement. Do what you have to do to give the farmers actual title deeds and get it over with. If the past 15 years have been teething period we are in for yet more teeth coming out.
Mr Mombeshora- tell us, how do you own your farm???
Like we’ve always said give title to the people in the rural lands and leave the comercial farms alone then you will see production . By giving title to the rural folk they can then go borrow and if they stuff up that’s they problem not government !!!!
The holder of the title deed owns the farm and just like Idi Amin’s Uganda he/she will get the farm back sooner than later hopefully.
The annoying thing is the regime is turning on the heat on these new farmers to make the farms productive at a time when everything else in the economy is moving in the opposite direction. The regime has itself failed to address the many problems including the rampant corruption, making sure there is funding, guaranteed supply of electricity, good infrastructure like roads and rail services, etc. And yet the regime expects the farmers to do well regardless.
If the farmers fail to deliver they lose the farm. The regime has failed to deliver on its mass prosperity promise delivering mass poverty instead and yet it is still in power. There is a dictatorship for you!
How daft can the banks be to accept these new permits. Its like seeking a loan using a rental property as collateral. Also how daft is Mugabe to peddle this as a solution, now wonder why Zim needs a new able leader.
This is pure madness now! What does changing letters transform into title deeds? No bank will accept this. These morons never learn!
Teething problems! Another complete idiot from the ZPF stable of fools. Just look at Zimbabwe right now, today! and see the economic results of these teething problems!
Hope they explain to these farmers if they borrow the requirement is that they pay back. If the land cannot be leased or freely sold but inherited how can a bank take it as collateral? Infantile ideas these guys have and majority of Zimbabweans and Africans(according to the polls) applaud them.
One of the saddest jokes to make the papers, have they taken into consideration the amount of side marketing that is taking place with all these new farmers. Better monitor the banks and who will be silly enough to lend on this sort of collateral. I suppose the next step would be to force the banks to lend…keep your money in the safest bank( if you have any)
A dip in production…. pretty big dip…..from farms land to barren fields. No bank will lend without collateral, not that the banks are in any fit state to lend anything. Also some seeds, spares, diesel and fertilizer would be a good start…… what is available for any farmer, very little.
Ambiguous terms like abandoned, deteriorate should not be used. They are not objective when it comes to interpretation. The land should be used productively with measurable outputs or risk losing it within period of time stated.
what did the A1 cost ? thousands all for nothing. What will the new paper costs thousands all for nothing. The banks will only accept the original title deeds. Clueless, useless and moronic zanuupf. fresh out of new ideas and fresh out of hope. Time for a french revolution zimbo style.