Online Reporter
Fungi Kwaramba
News Editor
BANKABLE title deeds for State-owned land will not result in financial institutions seizing control of large tracts of land, or lead to the reversal of the Land Reform Programme, Chairperson of the Land Tenure Implementation Committee, Mr Kudakwashe Tagwirei, has said.
Speaking on ZBCTV’s “Face the Nation” programme last night, Mr Tagwirei allayed fears that financial institutions would wrest land from beneficiaries of agrarian reform who would have failed to service loans extended under the scheme.
The businessman also laughed off speculation that he would personally grab land from indigent or defaulting farmers, adding that the issuance of title deeds would indirectly address aspects of multiple farm ownership, as is stipulated in the country’s Constitution.
Outlining the processes and mandate of the Land Tenure Committee, Mr Tagwirei said it was impossible for banks to take ownership of what is essentially State land.
“The land belongs to the Government, it does not belong to the bank. If you look at the total value of this land that we are talking about, the actual value is around US$20 billion. There is no bank that can give a mortgage for that land.
“So what the banks are merely doing is administering the mortgage that this farmer is going to get (through Government) on that piece of land. The ultimate owner of this land still remains Government, it’s not the bank that owns it.
“When the bank is ‘repossessing’ this land for whatever reason, maybe the farmer has failed to pay, remember that the owner is still the Government . . . ok? They (banks) will have to consult Government, obviously, when they are doing that process.”
He added: “One of the things that you must understand is that these farmers are supposed to be commercial farmers, not subsistence farmers. When you were applying to get that piece of land, you were saying I want to be a commercial farmer.
“And the risks that are associated with being a commercial farmer are that you must make sure that you work the land so that you are able to pay back.”
Mr Tagwirei said because title deeds were allocated on the basis of an individual’s unique national identification number, this could help address public concerns about multiple farm ownership.
He emphasised, though, that this was not the committee’s core concern or its mandate.
“Section 289 of the Constitution says that any citizen of this country is allowed to have access to land. A citizen is a person. It’s not an institution. It’s a person. A person is identified by an ID number. The ID number represents a person. You cannot have multiple ID numbers . . .
“When an ID is given to an individual, to a citizen of this country, the ID is a unique identifier to an individual. When we are issuing title to a farmer, the main focus point is the ID number; we will issue it on the basis of that ID number.
“When the bank repossesses this land — because a bank cannot take land — on behalf of Government, the bank cannot then own the land because they have no ID number”.
On claims that he would use his financial muscle to gain control of land, Mr Tagwirei said at an average valuation of US$2,000 per hectare of arable land, it was ridiculous to think he could purchase it because he did not have that kind of money.
“Some people have even said Kudakwashe Tagwirei wants to take all this land for himself because he can buy it, which I can’t because I don’t have US$20 billion to buy this land.”
Mr Tagwirei explained that banks would only administer a fund that would, among other things, provide affordable financing to farmers.
President Mnangagwa launched the bankable deeds late last year as part of measures to unlock the value of Zimbabwe’s agricultural land and to grow the economy in line with national development targets.
The deeds are structured as per recommendations of the Land Tenure Implementation Committee, which brings together 14 experts from a variety of fields.
