Land must be shared: bishop

The Bishop of Harare, Jonathan Siyachitema, has issued a statement on the invasion by war veterans of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe.

He said the diocese “believes most sincerely that the land in this country must be shared in accordance to the proportion of the inhabitants and that the resources must be distributed more equitably but this has to be done in a lawful, orderly and transparent manner that is devoid of corruption.

The diocese has set up a Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Committee to address racial, tribal or cultural conflicts and work towards their reconciliation, the bishop said.

Whites own the bulk of Zimbabwe’s arable land. The government under President Robert Mugabe is widely believed to have sponsored the invasions.

Bishop Siyachitema said the 1970s “war of liberation was fought largely to repossess the land that was grabbed by the settler colonialists.

“The only people who can resolve this issue are Zimbabweans only without any influence from outside,” the bishop said.