TEN years after President Robert Mugabe embarked on his controversial land reforms, more than half a million people remain on the government’s waiting list for farmland, his Zanu PF has conceded.

A report from the party’s department on land reform, resettlement and agriculture said there was still high demand for land and urged the government to continue with the acquisition of farms.

“There is a waiting list of over 500 000 of both A1 and A2 applications distributed throughout all provinces countrywide and the ministry keeps receiving requests or applications on a daily basis for land resettlement,” the report said.

“Scientific and empirical evidence shows that the communal areas are still overcrowded.”

Although the government has acquired an estimated 4500 farms since 2000, critics claim the programme has benefitted well-connected individuals and senior regime figures with very little of the land going to ordinary people.

There have also been reports of multiple farm ownership’s by senior government and party officials with little action being taken to address the problem despite numerous threats.

Meanwhile, the Zanu PF report added that there were still several cases of illegal settlements on farms, conservancies and national parks around the country citing the case of the Chitsa people who continue to occupy sections of the Gonarezhou national park in Masvingo province.

The report said the government must also acquire more land in order to resettle people being moved to make way for key developmental projects.

“Important examples are Tokwe-Mukosi dam; Kunzvi dam, Murowa and Chiadzwa diamond sites. Land has to be found to accommodate all the people to be relocated,” the report read.

“Given the high demand for land as observed above, it is necessary to continue with acquisition and redistribution of land.”