PEOPLE living with disabilities have blasted government for sidelining them in the distribution of land under the land redistribution programme launched in 2000.
BY NHAU MANGIRAZI
Contributing during a constitutional advocacy meeting in Karoi recently, Sekaurema Wafa chairman, Makisi Kofi said it was disheartening that the disabled had not benefited from the land reform programme yet they were constitutionally entitled to benefit from the resource.
“We believe the Constitution must be for everyone and land reform was never selective, but we have never been considered for resettlement. Even some of us are disabled, but our family members are not and we can do this on our own. We cannot survive on handouts,” he said.
Jessie Mugove, a local resident, exposed what she called “deep-rooted corruption by land officers in Hurungwe”.
“Some top officials have more than one farm and when we expose these, the farms are corruptly allocated to others who are well-connected,” she said.
Mugove, who rents a farm for her 45 head of cattle, said she has struggled for 20 years to get a piece of land without success.
Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, who was in attendance, said as the legal arm of government, they were fighting to root out corruption from State institutions.
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“Government has set up a land commission that will investigate all land disputes. We must all guard against corruption. Our tour on Constitution advocacy, we want everyone to understand their rights. Every citizen has equal rights that must be upheld by the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the country,” he said.
Justice ministry permanent secretary Virginia Mabiza said government was working towards aligning laws to the new Constitution.
“As part of our 100 days target, we will have the Constitution interpreted in all 16 languages. We hope to align laws to conform with the requirements of our Constitution,” she said.
The meeting was attended by local traditional leaders, churches, youth and community members.
