By A Correspondent| President Emmerson Mnangagwa is once again at the centre of a storm after revelations that his long-time business ally, Muller Conrad “Billy” Rautenbach, has been controversially awarded over 1,000 hectares of productive farmland—sparking public outrage over corruption, elite enrichment, and betrayal of liberation war ideals.

The land, totalling 1,083 hectares across Springs and Stuhm farms in Goromonzi, Mashonaland East, is being handed over to Rautenbach’s company, Marimba Residential Properties, as compensation for his failed bid to seize land in Aspindale Park, Harare—a property the High Court ruled in 2019 he never legally owned.

The compensation has triggered evictions of indigenous farmers, including war veterans and the reigning Zimbabwe Young Farmer of the Year, who have been lawfully settled on the land for over two decades. Their removal to benefit a well-connected tycoon has been described by civil society and legal experts as “unjust enrichment” and “state-facilitated looting.”

A letter dated 14 March 2025 from Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe confirms the land transfer to Rautenbach—despite a prior court ruling that his claim to the Aspindale land, allocated in 2004 to housing cooperatives such as Joshua Nkomo and Wadzanai, was invalid.

Court records show Rautenbach’s companies were not even registered when they laid claim to the 180 hectares in Aspindale. Yet, in blatant disregard of the judiciary, Mnangagwa reportedly directed Lands Minister Anxious Masuka to offer him farmland in compensation—raising serious concerns of abuse of office and unconstitutional conduct.

“This is not a mere land issue—it’s high-level betrayal,” said a war veteran now facing eviction. “We fought for this land. Now it’s being seized to reward someone who never owned the land he lost.”

The farmers, in a joint letter to War Veterans Minister Monica Mavhunga, painted a devastating picture of livelihoods destroyed: homes, schools, irrigation schemes, livestock, and state-supported farming projects—all wiped out to enrich a politically connected businessman.

In a further twist, some of the land at Stuhm Farm had already been formally leased to Members of Parliament under the Eighth Parliament in 2019. Those agreements, processed through the Ministry of Local Government, are now being ignored, with sitting MPs left dispossessed and uninformed.

The scandal strikes a direct blow to Mnangagwa’s recently launched Title Deeds programme, which claims to secure land ownership and restore trust in property rights. Critics say the current debacle proves the initiative is mere window dressing in the face of executive impunity.

Rautenbach, a multimillionaire with deep interests in mining, transport, energy, and real estate, has long been accused of exploiting his proximity to power for personal gain. He was previously sanctioned by the European Union and the United States for allegedly financing Zimbabwe’s ruling elite during times of political repression.

“This saga highlights everything that’s wrong with land reform today—selective justice, elite capture, and political corruption,” said a legal analyst. “When a man loses a land claim in court and is still compensated with someone else’s property, we have to ask: What rule of law?”

Civil society groups, including the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, are now demanding an independent investigation into the land deal, calling it a clear case of abuse of power and unjust enrichment.

For the evicted farmers, the pain is personal and irreversible.

“We developed this land with our own hands over 23 years,” said one farmer. “Now it’s being handed over to a man who already has too much. This isn’t the Zimbabwe we were promised. This is betrayal at the highest level.”