Grace Mugabe, the wife of Zimbabwe former president Robert Mugabe, owns 16 farms, in what is against the country’s land policy which allows ownership of one farm per family.
This was revealed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa during a radio interview in Harare on Friday.
Using Grace Mugabe’s monicker, Mnangagwa said, “I know of one lady “Stop It” who has about 16 yet the law says one family one family one farm.”
Zimbabwe went through a land redistribution exercise from 2002 which affected approximately 4,500 white farmers.
While thousands of black Zimbabweans were given pieces of land, most of the prime land went to high ranking political elite, who amassed more than one farm.
The seizure of white-owned farms was adopted by Mugabe’s government, in a process that triggered the country’s economic woes.
The land take overs, which were at first violent, did not only attract sanctions from western countries, but also resulted in the collapse of local industries which depended on agricultural produce.
Mnangagwa said the land audit conducted by the government revealed that “multi-ownership of farms continue to happen especially with high ranking officials.”
“Land audit is on, the final report is coming. About eight provinces have been done and once its complete, I will share it with you.”
Mnangagwa recently prevented one of his provincial ministers from taking over a vibrant coffee producing farm from a white farmer.
