Online Reporter
Wallace Ruzvidzo
Herald Reporter
THE introduction of bankable title deeds for State-owned land and the establishment of Mutapa Investment Fund have placed the national economy in a position of solvency in just six months, chairperson of the Land Tenure Implementation Committee, Mr Kudakwashe Tagwirei, has said.
In an interview on ZBCTV’s “Face the Nation” programme, broadcast last night, Mr Tagwirei said the two initiatives were strokes of genius on the part of President Mnangagwa.
Mr Tagwirei explained that the new Land Tenure Implementation Programme, launched by President Mnangagwa on December 20 2024, had created an asset worth about US$13 billion. This was on top of the US$16 billion valuation of the Mutapa Investment Fund.
“You know that our debt in this country is around US$21 billion. With one single stroke of genius from the President, he has solved the issue of the farmer who did not have access to finance; he has made sure that constitutional provisions are met (as regards the right to own and transfer land), and now Government has an asset.
“If you are a businessperson like I am, one of the things you try and avoid is to be insolvent. You have heard comments, people saying Zimbabwe is insolvent as a country . . .
“Within six months, the President has managed to make sure that this country is solvent, while ensuring that the farmer has got access to cheap finance,” he said.
Mr Tagwirei expressed confidence that the work of the Land Tenure Implementation Committee would unlock huge economic benefits for all Zimbabweans, not just the estimated 380 000 direct beneficiaries of the Land Reform Programme.
He said the fees people would pay to get the bankable title deeds could raise in the region of US$13 billion, which would be placed in a fund administered by banks.
“Part of the money is going to be used to pay some obligations that Government has. Also, the fund is going to go towards infrastructure, and while another chunk of that fund is going to go to the farmers themselves so that they can access finance.
“Because the very same fund is going to be used to build infrastructure, that is how our economy is going to grow. Not only that, remember we gave mortgages to these farms. It means Government has also got an (additional) asset.”
He projected a huge leap in national GDP thanks to the Land Tenure Implementation Programme and the Mutapa Investment Fund.
“I believe that with this stroke of genius, our GDP is going to move from US$47 billion where it is right now, to in excess of US$65 billion.”
Mr Tagwirei described the Land Tenure Implementation Programme as “one of the best” the world has ever seen, adding he was “excited to be part of it”.
He said the Land Tenure Implementation Committee had submitted recommendations to Government that would allow the issuance of two land-based mortgages that would raise money for agricultural operations.
The deed structured by the Land Tenure Implementation Committee will see beneficiaries of the Land Reform Programme who had 99-year leases, offer letters, and permits getting a bankable, registrable and transferable document.
Said Mr Tagwirei: “The liberation objective was that we were going to take the land from those who stole it from us – I’m just using crude words – and to make sure that it goes to the beneficiaries of this country, right? So what government did initially is that it took the land for the people, and now they are doing the second part of this dispensation, of making sure that the would-be beneficiary is given security.”
In its first three months, the committee will facilitate the issuance of 2,000 title deeds, and then another 24,000 for both A1 and A2 farmers over 18 months.
During that 18-month period, Mr Tagwirei said the Land Tenure Implementation Committee would also be reviewing the seamlessness of the system in place to ensure the nation derived maximum benefit.
