Welshman gets 99-year lease(07-12-06)

l Amenities minister Emmerson Mnangagwa said the allocation of a 99-year lease to Ncube was a clear demonstration that government was allocating land to every Zimbabwean, including those that initially spoke ill of the agrarian reform programme.
Mnangagwa was responding to a question posed by Gweru Urban MDC MP Timothy Mukahlera who asked whether opposition MPs could be allocated land under the government’s bloated land reform programme.
Mnangagwa drew howls of laughter when he said Ncube had defied party policy and applied for land and that government “had allocated him farms.”
“I am grateful to the member of the opposition for coming around to realize that land is important,” he said.
Ncube was unavailable for comment, but a spokesman for his party, Gabriel Chaibva said his party was opposed to Mugabe’s land reform.
Harare Central MDC MP Murisi Zwizai castigated Mukahlera for giving the ruling party an opportunity to poke fun at the opposition through his question.