By Political Reporter-The government has deployed security forces to evict illegal farm settlers from A1 and A2 farms.
The deployment, described as a joint operation involving multiple security arms, surfaced in Parliament last Thursday after Murewa South lawmaker Noah Mangondo (Zanu PF) raised concerns about illegal settlements spreading across farmlands.
Mangondo questioned the government’s strategy for managing these illegal occupations, highlighting the ineffectiveness of existing government departments in resolving the issue.
“My question is: What is being done by the government to make sure that the issue of illegal settlements ends because all these government departments that are there are failing to resolve this issue?” he asked.
In response, Agriculture, Minister Anxious Masuka urged affected farmers to report illegal settlers directly to law enforcement agencies.
“If you go to the Lands office requesting them to come and evict the person who has settled on a farm unlawfully, you are approaching the wrong office,” Masuka explained.
“It is the duty of the police department to sue those illegal settlers. Hence, there is a need for people to go and report to the police that there are people who are illegally settling themselves so that police officers go and arrest them.”
Masuka added that the army had joined forces with the police, Air Force, the President’s Office, and Prisons to assist with evictions and ensure the safety of lands officers, who are often threatened during inspections.
“We have four groups working in the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Ministry. We have also engaged the Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force, ZRP, the President’s Department, and Prisons to have a joint operation command to help the honorable minister to make sure that the lands officer is able to reach the place where the illegal settlers are settled,” Masuka said.
The use of military force to address land disputes is not new in Zimbabwe.
In 2000, the Zanu PF government began orchestrating large-scale land seizures targeting white-owned farms.
This controversial land reform program was marked by violence, intimidation, and the systematic use of the Zimbabwe National Army, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the then Zimbabwe Prison Services army, police, prison services and war veterans to evict white farmers forcibly.
The move, which sought to redistribute land to black Zimbabweans, led to widespread economic disruptions, agricultural decline, and a longstanding climate of fear and insecurity in rural areas.
Beyond land reform, Zanu PF has consistently leveraged the military to intimidate rural voters, especially during election periods.
Soldiers, alongside ruling-party loyalists, have reportedly been deployed in villages to enforce loyalty to the party, often pressuring villagers with threats and intimidation tactics to secure Zanu PF’s political dominance.
This tactic has drawn international condemnation, with critics arguing that it undermines Zimbabwe’s democratic process and instils fear among rural populations.
The recent deployment of soldiers to address illegal farm settlements rekindles memories of these tactics and raises questions about the party’s ongoing reliance on military intervention to handle civil issues, signalling that the administration may continue its longstanding practice of blending military force with political objectives.