HARARE – Lawyers on Wednesday warned that the government’s retreat on its handpicked conveyancers for a pilot scheme to digitalise title deeds resolves only part of the problem, and that property owners across Zimbabwe now face a broader fight against a compulsory deeds re-registration programme that could saddle them with costs they never agreed to and never asked for.
The ministry of justice backed down on Wednesday after the Law Society of Zimbabwe intervened, agreeing to open the Title Deeds Validation and Re-Issuance Pilot Programme to all registered conveyancers rather than a government-selected list of 16 firms.
Advocate Thabani Mpofu, who had criticised the government move to handpick conveyencers, said the lawyers’ victory should not obscure what remains at stake for ordinary title holders.
“The ministry of justice has backed down and will no longer be proceeding with its obnoxious, nepotistic and corrupt title deeds pilot project after a fierce fight back from lawyers,” Mpofu said.
“Now that the lawyers have prevailed, the public must now fight them and their state.”
Under Statutory Instrument 76 of 2025, all property owners in Zimbabwe are required to convert their existing title deeds to digital format within two years. The conversion process requires engagement of a conveyancer – meaning legal fees will be unavoidable for every title holder in the country, regardless of whether they want or need the service.
Mpofu questioned the constitutional basis of that obligation.
“Why should people be required to consult lawyers for a service they do not need?” he asked. “How is a 91-year-old titleholder expected to afford legal fees that are finagled upon them without consultation or their consent?”
He also pressed for transparency on the financial architecture of the programme, raising questions that the government has not yet publicly answered.
“How much will the state charge for this service, and who will benefit from those charges? Are private companies providing this digitalisation service, and who is behind them?”
The ultimate question, Mpofu said, was one of constitutional property rights.
“From the perspective of the title holder who made an outlay to acquire property and obtain a deed of title, is this expropriation of money reasonably justifiable in a democratic society?”
Advocate Fadzayi Mahere raised a further challenge that the government has yet to address: what happens to title holders who simply refuse to comply.
“Why should people have to pay anything more for properties that were already conveyanced with all relevant taxes and fees paid up?” she asked.
“Why should a property owner be burdened by this new money-making experiment?”
Mahere said the scheme had no obvious means of enforcement.
“What happens if people simply don’t comply? You can’t take their properties. They already hold title,” she said. “It’s nonsensical.”
The pilot programme, which began on April 1, 2026, is designed to test the Digital Land Administration Platform before a nationwide rollout.
The ministry of justice has said the new modalities for the programme will be worked out in consultation with the Law Society, with details to follow.
The post Lawyers win fight over title deeds pilot discrimination appeared first on Zimbabwe News Now.