FOX Farm villagers in Matobo, Matabeleland South province, are resisting what they describe as a corrupt attempt by senior officials to seize their land and re-allocate it to “outsiders” from the province.
The conflict pits long-term residents against Matobo district land commissioner Johane Zifunze and an unnamed Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) boss based in Gwanda.
A visit to the area by Southern Eye on Tuesday confirmed tensions were high, with villagers accusing the officials of systematically replacing them.
The locals, who were the original beneficiaries of the land, were furious over the shenanigans.
They appealed for government intervention, drawing parallels with a similar incident when the late former Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko stopped an attempted land takeover by CIO boss Rodney Mashingaidze at Maleme Ranch.
Zanu PF branch commissar and affected villager Joseph Nkomo accused lands officers of corruption.
“The lands officers have allocated our homesteads to some people, forcing us to vacate our homes,” Nkomo said.
He revealed that they successfully challenged a previous attempt to evict them at the High Court in 2017.
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Nkomo criticised the officials for operating secretively, bypassing community leaders.
“We heard some information around 2am that the lands officers will be having a meeting, but we were not officially informed,” he stated.
Zanu PF area secretary Peter Gakavhiza alleged that disgruntled party members are using “parallel structures” to abuse legitimate land beneficiaries.
“Some members of our party are dividing us for their benefit and tarnishing the image of our President,” Gakavhiza said.
Moreki Ngwenya, the Zanu PF Women's League commissar for ward 25, added: “The land officers are directed by the government to peg land, but they have been corruptly selling our land.”
A concerned villager only identified as Ndlovu gave a detailed account of the alleged land takeover.
“The lands commissioner Zifunze, working with a CIO boss, has invaded the place. They have started pegging on people’s stands,” he claimed.
He further alleged that the CIO official, who is originally from Mashonaland, brought police officers to assist in pegging stands on allocated land to suppress resistance from villagers.
When contacted for comment, Zifunze refused to speak, saying he would only do so if a reporter visited his office.
Zifunze is no stranger to land allocation controversy.
In 2019, while based in Matabeleland North province, he was reported to the police for his alleged role in a scandal involving over 200 stands at Gwayi business centre.
He was accused of working with Zanu PF youths to demarcate and sell stands without the knowledge of planning authorities.
The province’s chief physical planner Raymond Nyandoro distanced his department from the project.
Reports indicate that Zifunze was previously transferred to Matabeleland North following similar allegations in Filabusi.
