Celtone Charamba, the Vungu Rural District Council chairman told The Standard that some farmers had not paid a cent since 2009.
“The failure by the farmers to pay the development levy of US$1 per hectare has hindered development projects,” he said.
While Charamba downplayed the reasons behind the non-payment saying some farmers were not aware that they were supposed to pay the development levy, sources that attended a recent council meeting where the issue was discussed said it was because of low production on farms.
“Some of the farmers are not realising much from the farming activities because they are not fully utilising the land hence it becomes difficult for them to pay the levy,” the source said.
The source said the local authority recommended that government starts repossessing plots of farmers who continue to default on their levies.
President Robert Mugabe’s chaotic land reform was condemned by critics from inception as they argued that the beneficiaries who are mostly Zanu PF supporters were ill-equipped to put the land into good use.
