KEY POINTS

• Nearly 3,000 families, representing about 20,000 people, face possible eviction from land allocated to them after the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam displacement.

• Lawyers allege that unidentified investors have threatened to demolish homes and disturbed graves without producing legal documents authorising their actions.

• The lawyers have given Zimbabwe’s Lands Ministry seven days to clarify the land’s ownership and explain whether the families’ occupancy rights have been revoked.

Thousands of Zimbabweans who were displaced to make way for the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam are facing renewed uncertainty after unidentified individuals and companies reportedly claimed ownership of the land where they were resettled.

The affected families live in Chingwizi Section of Nuanetsi Ranch A in Mwenezi District, Masvingo Province. They were relocated in 2014 after flooding forced them to leave their ancestral homes during the development of Tokwe-Mukosi, Zimbabwe’s largest inland dam.

According to NewZimbabwe.com, the government allocated land to the displaced communities and supported the construction of schools and healthcare facilities, allowing families to rebuild their lives.

However, the resettled villagers are now demanding answers from the Ministry of Lands after people claiming to be investors allegedly ordered them to leave the land.

The dispute threatens the homes, community facilities and livelihoods that families have established over more than a decade.

Investors accused of threatening homes and graves

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), through lawyers Obey Shava and Tatenda Sigauke, is representing affected households and has written to Lands Minister Vangelis Haritatos seeking clarification.

In the letter, the lawyers said the families had occupied and developed the land with the government’s knowledge and approval under Statutory Instrument 53 of 2014, following their displacement by the dam project.

The lawyers said residents had built homes, schools and clinics on the land. They had also buried deceased relatives there, making the property central to both their daily lives and family histories.

However, the legal representatives alleged that individuals or companies claiming to be investors had recently entered the area and disrupted the villagers’ peaceful occupation.

The letter further alleged that graves had been desecrated and that threats had been made to demolish homes using graders.

According to the lawyers, those claiming ownership had not produced court orders or other legal documents demonstrating that the families’ rights to occupy the land had been lawfully terminated.

The allegations have not been independently established in the report, and the identities of the purported investors remain unknown.

Lawyers demand answers from Lands Ministry

The lawyers have asked the Ministry of Lands to clarify whether it allocated, offered, leased or sold any portion of the land occupied by the resettled families to other individuals or companies.

They have given the ministry seven days from receipt of the letter to provide a written response.

If the land was allocated to new investors, the lawyers want the government to disclose their full identities, registered addresses and company details, where applicable.

They are also seeking the legal basis for any new allocation, including relevant statutory instruments, government gazette notices, offer letters and agreements.

Another key question is whether the original residents’ occupancy rights under Statutory Instrument 53 of 2014 were ever formally withdrawn or terminated.

The lawyers have further requested details of any measures the government has taken, or plans to take, to protect the families from alleged unlawful eviction, harassment, grave desecration and threatened demolition while the dispute is being resolved.

The ministry’s response could help establish whether the purported investors have a lawful claim to the land and what protections remain available to the resettled communities.

Families have endured years of compensation disputes

The latest dispute adds to the difficulties faced by the Tokwe-Mukosi families since their displacement in 2014.

The report said the government initially promised financial compensation to those who lost their homes and ancestral land. However, the families subsequently faced delays and difficulties in receiving the promised payments.

NewZimbabwe.com reported that some were offered compensation in Zimbabwe’s former RTGS currency, which had lost substantial value, before the issue was again left unresolved.

The families’ current predicament is particularly serious because they have spent years rebuilding their communities on land provided by the government.

An eviction could force them to abandon homes, community facilities and the graves of their relatives once again, potentially creating another cycle of displacement.

Lawyers warn against unlawful eviction

The lawyers representing the villagers have said their clients will resist attempts to remove them from the land unlawfully.

The dispute now places pressure on the Ministry of Lands to explain the status of the land and establish whether any subsequent allocation conflicts with the arrangements made for the displaced families.

Until the government clarifies the ownership and legal status of the property, the residents face uncertainty over whether they can remain in their homes.

The case also raises wider questions about the protection of people resettled for major infrastructure projects, particularly when land previously allocated to displaced communities is later claimed by other parties.

For the affected families, the immediate concern is securing their right to remain on the land where they have rebuilt their lives