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President adjusts Cabinet
The Herald
May 13, 2005

http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?id=43418&pubdate=2005-05-13

PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday made adjustments to the Cabinet, which saw the Minister for State Security, Cde Didymus Mutasa, being given additional responsibilities of overseeing Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement.

Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda announced the adjustments, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Information and Publicity.

"The adjustment requires that Cde Mutasa works closely with the Presidency in overseeing all matters relating to and arising from acquisition, distribution and settlement of land under the National Land Reform Programme," read part of the statement.

The statement said the Minister of State for Special Affairs for Lands and Resettlement, Cde Flora Buka, would assist Cde Mutasa.

Cde Buka’s role was adjusted to stress field-based monitoring of land reform-related settlements, both A1 (small-scale) and A2 (large-scale) models.

The adjustments, the statement said, were part of the ongoing process of streamlining Government operations for more rapid national development.

While thousands of people have been successfully resettled under the A1 and A2 models, a number of challenges still have to be dealt with.

These include multiple ownership, which has seen some people mostly those in high-ranking positions owning more than one farm in contravention of Government’s policy of one-man/one-farm.

Government is also still in the process of implementing the recommendations of the Utete Presidential Land Review Commission of 2003 and the Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement is central to the task.

The commission appointed by President Mugabe and chaired by former Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Charles Utete was tasked with studying the land reform programme Government embarked on in 2000 and making appropriate recommendations to ensure the success of the historic agrarian reforms.

Some of the major findings of the Utete Presidential Land Review Commission were the need to impart skills and organise training for new farmers, expansion of extension services, the formulation of a production policy framework, modifying the land tenure system and instituting efficient water management systems.

The commission also expressed concern over multiple farm ownership.

While thousands of people have been resettled since 2000, a lot more are in need of land. The Government has said land acquisition would be an ongoing process, though at the moment focus has been on equipping the new farmers with skills and inputs to ensure they use their land productively.

The uptake of land by new farmers allocated land under the reform programme and the issue of productive utilisation are some of the challenges the Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement faces.

Cde Mutasa is a veteran politician with years of experience in Government.

He has served in senior positions in both the Government and the ruling Zanu-PF party.

He was independent Zimbabwe’s first Speaker of the National Assembly before he served as a Cabinet minister holding such portfolios as Senior Minister of Political Affairs and Senior Minister of National Affairs, Employment Creation and Co-operatives.

In the last Cabinet before the new one appointed last month, Cde Mutasa served as Minister of Special Affairs Responsible for Anti-Corruption and Anti-Monopolies Programmes.

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