HIGH Court judge, Justice Joseph Mafusire has ordered the Lands ministry to release the names of beneficiaries of farms in the lucrative Lowveld sugarcane plantations.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
This follows an application by Masvingo-based newspaper Masvingo Mirror, which approached the High Court seeking to compel the Lands and Rural Settlement minister to release the names of beneficiaries.
The newspaper claims that it is in the interest of the public to know the details of the beneficiaries in the lucrative sugarcane plantations in the Lowveld, as previously the Zanu PF government has been accused of partisan distribution of land.
“The respondent shall furnish the applicant with the full names, national identity numbers, dates of birth, plot number and the number of hectares allocated to each of the 213 beneficiaries of the Hippo Valley and Triangle sugarcane plots within 15 days of the date of service of the order on the respondent,” Justice Mafusire’s ruling read last week.
He ordered the respondents to pay the cost of suit. In an opposing affidavit, the ministry’s permanent secretary, Grace Mutandiro, said the application was misplaced and had no merit. She said releasing such information would infringe on the third parties’ rights to privacy.
“It is undoubtedly, therefore, not in the interests of public accountability to give the applicants the information they require. It is common cause that every Zimbabwean citizen has a right in terms of section 289(b) of the Constitution to acquire, hold, occupy, use, transfer, hypothecate, lease or dispose agricultural land regardless of his or her race or colour,” read her affidavit.
