Haritatos, Cheda Tribunal sworn in

Source: Haritatos, Cheda Tribunal sworn in – herald

Debra Matabvu

Senior Reporter

NEWLY-APPOINTED Lands and Rural Development Minister Vangelis Haritatos has pledged to boost productivity and advance growth in line with Vision 2030 being championed by President Mnangagwa.

Last week, the President split the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development as part of the ongoing restructuring.

Minister Haritatos, who was one of the two deputies in the ministry, was appointed Minister of Lands and Rural Development, while Dr Anxious Masuka was assigned the Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development portfolio.

In a separate development yesterday, President Mnangagwa also swore in a Tribunal chaired by Retired Justice Maphios Cheda, with legal practitioners Tafadzwa Hungwe and Chaka Mashoko as members.

The tribunal will inquire into the possible removal from office of High Court judge Justice Never Katiyo, following a recommendation made by the Judicial Service Commission in October 2025.

In an interview after taking his oath of office, Minister Haritatos said he will implement measures aimed at enhancing transparency and boosting productivity in the land sector across the country.

“First and foremost, in the coming weeks, I am going to do a very quick audit and stock-take of the land reform itself, in the sense that it is time now to proclaim that land reform is over, once and for all,” he said.

“Moving from there, we do not have a clear public policy, and we intend to do a very detailed national land policy that is fully accountable, that is fully transparent, that takes into consideration all the quotas, all the directives, all the policies that our ministry really needs to look into.

“Part and parcel of our land policy is going to be a use plan, in the sense that we do not have right now a master plan of the entire country, and this is critical; it is a critical component to ensure that we sustainably devise land use, whether it is urban, whether it is mining, whether it is  agricultural, and this is all one umbrella that we are going to be looking at in the next few weeks.”

Minister Haritatos added that the ministry will work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development to ensure optimum use of that land to maximise production and productivity.

He also said he is going to ensure there is specialisation in every province, based on agro-ecological regions.

The ministry will also tackle land administration issues as well as digitise the information on land issues.

Said Minister Haritatos: “We solidify the institutional memory in a database that can be used by any minister, not only myself. There can be a minister that comes after me, this information must be digitalised, so that one can track what decision was made as far back as 2000, what was done in 2026, and so on and so forth.”

He also pledged to uproot corruption in the ministry and in the provinces.

“I am going to tackle corruption in any way or form in lands, whether that is an official that works for the Ministry of Lands, or someone who wants to corrupt our officials, and even a stern warning to those who are even thinking of one day corrupting someone.

“The President does not tolerate corruption; why should I, as a minister, tolerate corruption? So, we will ensure that people are brought to book,” he said.

In addition, Minister Haritatos said his Ministry will continue drilling of boreholes and setting up Village Business Units (VBUs), which are part of the rural development strategy.

Speaking after taking his oath, Retired Justice Cheda said they had been appointed to investigate allegations made against Justice Katiyo. 

“We have been appointed, three of us, to the Tribunal, with permission to set up, and try to investigate and find out whether the allegations being made against him are true or false,” he said.

“Thereafter, we will submit our report to His Excellency (the President) because it is his Tribunal and the report goes to the President.”