Authorities in Mozambique and Zimbabwe have launched a probe into claims by provincial authorities that Zimbabwean commercial and peasant farmers were seizing arable land along the border with Mozambique.
”We have had reports of illegal land occupations from the Manica provincial authorities, the most serious case of which involves a major Zimbabwean tobacco grower,” national director of land mapping and planning Jose Mucombo said on Friday.
Mucombo said authorities in one district of Mussorize reported that Zimbabweans have been extending their farms across the border into the fertile lands of the central Manica province.
”There have also been persistent reports of Zimbabwean peasants violating the border in different locations,” he said.
Mucombo said governments of the two countries have agreed to form a technical commission to probe the issue.
The commission is expected to examine whether the border demarcations of the 1930s still stand or have suffered illegal alterations.
Mucombo said it was not clear that the alleged Zimbabwean invasions are linked to the controversial land reforms in Zimbabwe, which have seen many white commercial farmers losing land to the government for redistribution amongst landless blacks.
Meanwhile, a Mozambican government plan to resettle some Zimbabwean farmers who legally requested land for lease is still under consideration.
However, farmers who have asked for very large land holdings have had their requests turned down by Maputo, for fear of importing the Zimbabwean problem.
In Mozambique, all land belongs to the state and can only be leased for a period of up to 50 years.
– Sapa-AFP