HARARE – The Law Society of Zimbabwe has intervened after the government published a list of 16 law firms appointed to participate in a title deeds validation and re-issuance pilot programme, prompting an outcry from lawyers who say the state has no business selecting legal practitioners on behalf of property owners.
The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs announced the Title Deeds Validation and Re-Issuance Pilot Programme in a notice carried in the Sunday Mail of April 5, 2026, saying it was implementing the initiative under Statutory Instrument 76 of 2025, the Deeds Registries Regulations, 2025.
Under the programme, which commenced on April 1, 2026, and runs for two weeks, the selected conveyancers will receive and submit applications to the Deeds Registry for validation and digital re-issuance of title deeds on behalf of property owners.
The ministry said all property owners are required under SI 76 of 2025 to convert their existing title deeds to digital format within two years.
The announcement named 16 firms authorised to participate, among them Chimuka Mafunga Commercial Attorneys, Mhishi Nkomo Legal Practice, Wintertons Legal Practitioners, Dube Manikai & Hwacha, and Chiwunda-Mujokoro & P Takawadiyi Law Chambers.
The reaction from the legal profession was swift. In a circular to members dated April 7, 2026, Law Society of Zimbabwe executive secretary Edward Mapara said the body had noted members’ concerns expressed both privately and on social media, and had already engaged the permanent secretary at the ministry of justice.
“Your concerns are both valid and urgent,” Mapara wrote. “In this regard we have engaged the offices of the permanent secretary and she has assured us that she is looking into the issue.”
The Law Society said it would update members within 48 hours.
Advocate Thabani Mpofu, one of Zimbabwe’s most prominent lawyers, was more direct in his condemnation.
“Zanu PF simply wakes up and tells us that it’s going to choose lawyers for all property holders in the country,” he wrote on X. “This kind of nepotism and corruption is disgusting and must be fought by all men and women of conscience.”
The lawyers say it is a fundamental legal principle that a client, not the state, chooses their own legal representative. The pilot programme, by designating a closed list of approved conveyancers, effectively strips property owners of that right and raises questions about the basis on which the 16 firms were selected.
The ministry said the pilot is intended to test and refine the operational processes of the Digital Land Administration Platform (DLAP) ahead of a nationwide rollout, and that feedback gathered would be used to strengthen the system’s efficiency, reliability and user-friendliness.
The Chief Registrar assured stakeholders that safeguards had been instituted to preserve the integrity, authenticity, and legal validity of all title deeds processed under the programme.
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