14 000 Mwenezi Families to Receive Land Tenure After Tugwi-Mukosi Displacement

MWENEZI— The Government has launched a major resettlement programme in Nuanetsi Ranch, Mwenezi District, which will grant land tenure permits to more than 14 000 families who were relocated there following their displacement in 2014.

Most of the affected families were moved to Chingwizi and Masangula after being displaced from the Tugwi-Mukosi Dam basin in Chivi District.

The new programme will provide them with legal status and open access to irrigation schemes, education, health care, and other public infrastructure.

The reorganisation is being carried out across 80 000 hectares of land donated by President Mnangagwa in his role as patron of the Development Trust of Zimbabwe (DTZ).

DTZ, which manages Nuanetsi Ranch, has also signed 25-year lease agreements with nine private investors to launch joint venture agriculture projects on the same land.

“There is ongoing reorganisation of settlements here at Nuanetsi for all those who were haphazardly settled, and the settlers will be resettled on the 80 000 hectares that was set aside for the exercise after President Mnangagwa, as DTZ patron, donated the land for that,” said Engineer Amos Marawa, Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet.

“The families being relocated will get security of tenure documents, and the Government will also develop infrastructure such as roads, schools and clinics in the new areas they are being moved into,” he added.

According to The Herald, the formalisation of land rights will enable resettled families to participate in irrigation-based agriculture, tapping into water drawn from Tugwi-Mukosi Dam.

About 60 percent of Nuanetsi Ranch’s land is suitable for irrigation, giving the area vast production potential.

Private investors are already establishing large-scale citrus and sugarcane projects across 25 000 hectares, and two companies have installed solar power systems to support operations and feed electricity into the national grid.

The broader plan includes building a sugar mill and canning factory to support agricultural value addition and open Zimbabwe’s citrus products to export markets, including China.

The initiative is expected to create jobs and generate foreign currency for the country.

To date, 75 families have already been relocated to sites in Mwenezi where infrastructure is being developed. Addmore Pazvakavambwa, Permanent Secretary for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution, confirmed that land permits are being issued.

“To date, 75 families have already been moved to new areas in Nuanetsi where they are supposed to stay after getting permits for their land. The Government will set up infrastructure in those areas, and already four boreholes have been drilled more will be drilled,” he said.

DTZ General Manager Emmanuel Jaricha clarified that no monetary compensation would be provided to relocated families.

“There will be no compensation that will be paid to the families, save for the permits for their new land.

“Infrastructure is being developed in areas where people are being moved under the reorganisation exercise, and I am happy that on top of the four boreholes that have been drilled to date, 12 more boreholes will be drilled for the families in the coming few week”, said Jaricha.

Officials say the reorganisation will integrate displaced communities into formally planned settlements, ensuring they benefit from public resources and contribute to national food production goals.