Zimbabwe: 'Do You Want to Steal People's Land?' MPs Grill Lands Ministry Over Inconsistencies in New Title Deed Policy

What the report says

Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands and Rural Development has challenged the Lands Ministry over a new title deed policy that MPs say appears inconsistent with existing land laws and earlier government practice. The issue came up during an oral evidence session this week with Lands and Rural Development Ministry Permanent Secretary Prosper Matondi, according to the report published by New Zimbabwe and distributed by AllAfrica.

Matondi told lawmakers that the government is introducing new land permits with expiry dates to replace the 99-year leases issued to new farmers in 2006 and 2007. MPs questioned why the rules were changing and whether the revised documents could weaken land tenure security or affect existing offer letters. Committee chair Felix Saul Maburutse and other members pressed for clarity on where the policy had been announced and who authorized it.

The ministry said the move was linked to plans to register title deeds by June 30, 2026, and Matondi argued that officials were trying to address long-standing problems in land administration, including multiple types of offer letters in circulation and banks’ earlier reluctance to accept the 99-year leases. He also said the government was not changing its overall policy. MPs, however, said such reforms needed to be grounded in law and explained by senior officials because of their impact on farmers and land security.