Zimbabwe: ED puts land barons on notice

Government will stand with people who were duped by land barons in urban areas and punish the culprits, President Mnangagwa has said.

He said the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the sale of State land in urban areas presented to him on Tuesday showed glaring anomalies that needed to be addressed.

Addressing the 335th Ordinary Session of the Politburo that marked the beginning of Zanu-PF's 18th National People's Conference in Harare yesterday, the President said the law would be applied without fear or favour.

"Yesterday (Tuesday), I received the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the sale of State land in urban areas," he said.

"The report contains glaring excesses which we must correct and bring the guilty parties to account without fear or favour.

"The Government, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission must interest themselves in the findings of that report.

"The party stands with the victims who suffered and lost their hard-earned money at the hands of the unscrupulous, corrupt and greedy land barons. The law will take its course without fear or favour in this regard.”

President Mnangagwa said Zanu-PF, as the ruling party, could not allow a situation where 39 years after independence some citizens still lived in squalid conditions with no clean water, sanitation, roads and other amenities.

On the National People's Conference, the President said he was confident that adequate preparations were put in place to ensure the meeting was a huge success.

"This defining conference must be used to further mobilise our people towards economic productivity and guide our course as we accelerate our quest to grow our economy and improve the lives of our people," he said.

"Thematic chairpersons must, therefore, ensure that conference discussions are accordingly guided.”

President Mnangagwa said the Politburo had resolved to establish the War Veterans League and tasked the secretary for Legal Affairs Cde Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana to make the necessary recommendations for adoption by the Central Committee today as per procedure.

He briefed the Politburo of his meeting with members of the Zimbabwe Liberation War Collaborators Association (Ziliwaco).

"This past week I had an occasion to address a Ziliwaco meeting at the City Sports Centre here in Harare," said President Mnangagwa.

"Various issues were raised which affect that constituency of our party.

"We will do our best to address the issues which they raised. However, I appeal to the association to shift their paradigm from a welfare-oriented mindset to that which has a membership primed towards working hard using our God-given resources.

"Government will facilitate production-inclined projects which seek to empower our people. The days of welfare and handouts are gone. Our people should be encouraged to work hard.”

This article originally appeared in The Herald