The High Court has ordered President Emmerson Mnangagwa to make public the findings of the Uchena Commission, which investigated the disposal of State land in transactions estimated to have cost Zimbabwe up to US$3 billion.
The commission was established in February 2018 and chaired by High Court judge Justice Tendai Uchena. Its mandate was to probe the allocation and sale of State land in urban and peri-urban areas from 2005, following mounting concerns over illegal settlements and land deals allegedly driven by land barons.
Despite submitting its final report to the President in December 2019, the findings have never been released to the public.
The matter was brought before the courts by former Harare East legislator Allan Markham, who argued that the continued secrecy surrounding the report violated citizens’ constitutional right to access information.
Markham maintained that the report exposed extensive illegal dealings involving State land and that its suppression undermined transparency and accountability.
The Attorney-General, representing the State, opposed the application, arguing that the Constitution does not compel the President to publish reports produced by commissions of inquiry. The State further contended that Markham had failed to establish a breach of Section 62 of the Constitution, which guarantees access to information.
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However, in a judgment handed down on December 24, High Court judge Justice Maxwell Takuva dismissed the State’s arguments. He ruled that Section 62(1) entitles the public to information held by the State where disclosure is necessary to promote transparency and accountability.
Justice Takuva found that the continued withholding of the Uchena Commission report amounted to a violation of the Constitution. He criticised the lack of openness surrounding the findings, stating that the decision to keep the report secret reflected a culture of secrecy rather than democratic accountability.
The court ordered President Mnangagwa to ensure the report is released to the public within 90 days.
When the report was initially submitted in 2019, an official summary revealed that the commission had identified more than 400 potential corruption cases linked to State land transactions.
It recommended investigations into both former and serving public officials implicated in land allocations, including the conducting of lifestyle audits.
The commission estimated that land sold to developers was valued at about US$3 million but noted that the State had recovered only around 10 percent of its actual worth.
Legal observers say the ruling could have far-reaching implications, potentially paving the way for the release of other commission reports that have remained unpublished over the years.
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