Source: Prosecutor-General moves to protect State land from land barons | The Sunday Mail
Justice Matanda-Moyo Nyore Madzianike
THE Prosecutor- General (PG), Justice Loyce Matanda-Moyo, has approached the High Court seeking an order to reclaim and protect State land that has been lying idle and unclaimed since independence and was being unlawfully targeted for illegal settlements and sales by land barons.
The application, lodged through head of the Asset Forfeiture Unit Mr Chris Mutangadura, seeks a declaratory order for the State to secure and superintend parcels of land whose ownership has never been established after the former title holders left the country at independence.
It is envisaged that this move will boost the Government’s ongoing clampdown on illegal land dealings.
Among the targeted properties is a prime piece of land in Waterfalls, Harare, registered in 1977 as Induna Township 6 of Lot 10, which has reportedly attracted the attention of land barons due to its unclear status.
According to court papers, the PG’s intervention followed a tip-off from a whistle-blower about the property, prompting her office to investigate its ownership.
The PG obtained a copy of the Surveyor-General’s diagram and approached the Registrar of Deeds in January 2022 to determine if the land was privately owned or held by any entity.
Investigations revealed that no title deed had ever been issued for the land, confirming that it remains unclaimed and unoccupied.
Further inquiries by the police uncovered that the City of Harare had no record of the land’s allocation, producing only a 1976 document showing that the property had been surveyed and earmarked for development — without specifying a beneficiary.
In her application, Justice Matanda-Moyo said it was her constitutional mandate, under Section 258, to prosecute individuals targeting State land.
“It is, therefore, clear that the applicant, under Section 258 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, is mandated by law to discharge any functions that are necessary or incidental to such prosecutions of persons who have set their eyes on the idle land which, for all intents and purposes, belongs to the State,” reads the application.
In Zimbabwe, land ownership is classified into several categories — urban or town land held through title deeds, rural district land managed through leases or permits, agricultural land under title deeds and communal land under the administration of traditional leaders.
“The land in question is not specific as to who owns it and the supposed owner. The State is mired in ignorance as to who between itself and the Harare City Council controls the land. Neither is the land in possession or occupation by anyone,” reads part of the petition.
It continues:
“Whilst the applicant could have proceeded under the Money Laundering Act, the facts in casu, as shall be elucidated hereunder, do not show any identifiable suspect by name, except that the whistle-blower information received by the applicant shows that the specified land was and remains targeted by land barons who pounce on any open space, taking advantage of the oblivion of the State to remember or account for all its land, understandably arising from the fact that Zimbabwe attained her independence in 1980, before which all land was under the administration of the colonial Government, which, in some cases, was seized with apportionment of land, some of which remain unaccounted for from colonial times hitherto.”
Justice Matanda-Moyo also argued that the land in question qualifies as res nullius — property without an owner — and is therefore subject to State protection.
“Thus, an application for the registration of title in terms of Section 3, as read with Section 7 of the Titles Registration and Derelict Lands Act, is not competent as the land has never been lawfully owned or possessed by anyone.
This piece of property mysteriously escaped the radar of both the relevant ministry and the Derelict Lands Board.
“The board was formed in terms of the Land Acquisition Act to specifically investigate, identify and look into derelict land and act in accordance of the provisions of the said Act. As it stands, the truth of the matter is that this property remains unacquired by the Government in the face of the allegations that gave rise to this application that it has been abandoned.”
The Registrar of Deeds and the Surveyor-General have been cited as respondents in the case.
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