Villagers in Ward 11, Insuza, under Village 1B, have accused their village head, Lucky Sibanda, of seizing their farms and leaving them without land to cultivate.
According to sources who spoke to CITE, Sibanda has been confiscating farms and selling them to other individuals.
“Last year, the village head sent a letter instructing people across the road not to come into his village, including their livestock,” said one of the sources.
“We questioned this decision because even the school and water sources are in his ward.”
Villagers claim that a meeting was called to discuss the matter, but Sibanda failed to attend.
“We are also not allowed to cut grass for roofing,” they added.
The villagers further alleged that Sibanda recently issued another letter, prohibiting them from farming in certain areas.
“It seems he wants to sell the farms as he did before. Many farms were taken from us and sold as homesteads. We don’t know how we will survive without land to farm,” they said.
“He hasn’t given us any reasons for these actions.”
When contacted for comment, the village head denied the allegations, asserting that the villagers involved do not belong to his ward.
“In my village, no one has had their farm taken, and no farms have been sold. I am simply following the Traditional Leaders Act, which requires me to manage the boundary of my village,” Sibanda said.
“If these complaints are coming from people outside my ward, they have no right to farm here.”
Sibanda emphasised that those complaining are not entitled to land in his ward.
“If these individuals are from another village, they should farm there. I told them I cannot manage people from another village, especially during cultural events or other matters. That’s the only issue,” he explained.
He dismissed the claims that he was selling farms.
“They need to provide receipts to back up these allegations. They’re trying to get me arrested for something I haven’t done. The truth is, I told them not to interfere with my villagers who are struggling to farm due to limited land. If they want, they can take this matter to court,” Sibanda said.
