Zimbabwe to Deploy Drones and Use Satellite Imagery in Nationwide Land Audit Crackdown

By Harare Correspondent

Harare - The Government of Zimbabwe is launching an expansive, tech-driven nationwide land audit designed to eliminate multiple farm ownership, repossess idle land and dismantle deep-seated syndicates executing illegal communal land sales.

The aggressive intervention will mark the first major policy directive from the newly established Ministry of Lands and Rural Development, which was recently excised as a standalone portfolio to bring stringent oversight and transparency to the nation’s land resource.

Utilising state-of-the-art geospatial technology, the state will deploy high-resolution satellite imagery alongside unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) to comprehensively map and audit agricultural allocations across all provinces.

Speaking on the operational trajectory of the newly configured ministry, the Minister of Lands and Rural Development, Vangelis Haritatos, said technology will eliminate the human bias and corruption that previously hindered manual auditing processes.

"We are entering an era of absolute transparency and optimal production," Minister Haritatos said, "the utilisation of satellite data from the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency, complemented by localised drone surveillance, gives us a flawless, real-time picture of land utilisation across the entire country."

"There will be no hiding place for those holding onto land for speculative purposes," he said.

Under the strict "use-it-or-lose-it" policy governing the proposed blitz, farms found to be sitting completely idle without justifiable cause face immediate downsizing or outright state repossession to accommodate backlogged applicants on provincial waiting lists.

However, the government has given assurances that the audit will not be an arbitrary exercise, acknowledging the severe macroeconomic and climatic shocks that have battered the agricultural sector in recent seasons.

"We are fully cognisant of the operational hurdles our farmers face," Minister Haritatos clarified. "Genuine, verifiable challenges such as successive El Niño-induced droughts, structural lack of financing, or macro-economic constraints will be treated with fairness and meticulously reviewed before any administrative action is taken.

"Our primary objective is to support productivity, not to punish distressed but genuine farmers."

Beyond checking agricultural output, the high-tech audit is concurrently executing a sweeping crackdown on the notorious "sabhuku deals", an illicit parallel market where corrupt village heads, traditional leaders and politically linked land barons illegally partition and sell state-owned communal and peri-urban land to desperate home-seekers.

The Office of the President and Cabinet recently escalated the fight against these syndicates, issuing an urgent, high-level directive to all Provincial Secretaries for Provincial Affairs and Devolution to aggressively expose and document these illicit networks.

Highlighting the gravity of the institutional threat posed by these unauthorised transactions, the Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Engineer Tafadzwa Muguti, issued a warning to provincial administrations regarding the crisis.

"As you may be aware, the country is seized with 'Sabhuku Deals' issues bedevilling communities across the country," Engineer Muguti noted in a memorandum detailing the emergency reporting guidelines.

"We require immediate and uncompromised data on all illegal land allocations and settlements operating within the provinces.

Traditional leaders do not possess the legal authority to sell or title state land, and those spearheading these criminal syndicates will face the full wrath of the law," Muguti said.

To provide a permanent solution to the chaotic land administration system, the government is coupling the enforcement blitz with the rollout of a secure, digitalised land registry aimed at issuing authentic title deeds to legitimate land holders.

Authorities have reiterated that any transaction conducted outside this formal framework carries zero legal weight, offering no protection against state-sanctioned demolitions of illegal structures.

With satellite mapping soon to be underway and a hardline stance adopted by the presidency, the state’s current maneuver signals a defining restructuring of Zimbabwe's land tenure system, positioning accountability and maximum agricultural production as mandatory national imperatives.