Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister, Ezra Chadzamira said that he will press ahead with downsizing farms in the province despite an uproar by war veterans.
The ex-combatants wrote a letter to Chadzamira, complaining about the decision to downsize Cambria farm allocated to them at the height of the land reform programme.
In an interview with the Daily News, Chadzamira vowed to continue with the programme. He said:
We are not targeting any person. Look, even our president has got a small farm, which is not above the required hectares.
We are not going to hesitate; the programme is going to continue for the good of our country. Everyone must get a reasonable piece of land.
The war veterans, in the letter, had reminded Chadzamira that it was government policy that any land dispute involving them should be ruled in their favour. They wrote:
The farm was identified suitable for game farming (conservancy) by the provincial lands committee chaired by the then provincial governor JD (Josiah) Hungwe and a resolution was endorsed by then minister of Lands, the late John Nkomo in 2005 after an all stakeholders meeting with 110 participants.
The current ministers of lands Perrance Shiri in June this year also wrote to all provinces instructing priority in the allocation of land to war veterans and that in the event of land disputes, under no circumstances should war veterans have his or her offer letter cancelled.