Most respondents said that land was offered via meetings run by war veterans. “The channel is the war veterans, that is the framework.”134 In some cases Zanu-PF cards were required: We tried to get some land in October 2000 at the Charter Estate. This is a resettlement farm.… You go through the gate and there’s an ex-combatant in charge of land occupations there. They said they want data forms and a Zanu-PF card. We didn’t have those. They said we should go and come back some time when we had the necessary forms.135 MDC activists felt that they would not be eligible to get land because they supported the opposition: Yes, I heard about it [land resettlement] but I did not go to register. If they know you are MDC they do not give you land. Known MDC activists cannot go. In our area almost three-quarters do not want to go. 136 In several areas, according to cases reported to Human Rights Watch, the “fast track” plots were being handed out not only to landless people from the communal areas or war veterans (for whom government policy officially reserves 20 percent), but also to the police, army, CIO, civil servants such as agricultural extension workers (who are involved in demarcating plots), and traditional leaders. A former district administrator described this: They allocate land to their supporters. We are asked to transport them to the farms, then we just sit back and let them do their thing. When one local administrator didn’t provide transport to war veterans, she was kicked out. It becomes untenable to witness a process that’s very illegal…We are not resettling the landless peasant, who is being sidelined. We are resettling ourselves.137 An MDC activist from the Chimanimani constituency told Human Rights Watch how he applied for land. He said he was happy to do so, despite his party’s opposition to the fast track program, since the land in question was a planned resettlement scheme and not a farm occupation. He said he was rejected because of his opposition affiliation: We thought that because the government is saying that land is not a political issue then let’s also register for land to see what would take place. I went through all the procedures: I registered through my councilor, submitting all my particulars, curriculum vitae, national ID number and so on. The names given to the councilor were taken to the DA’s office. My name was called during the day when land was distributed. I was number ten on the list, but people started shouting: ‘Oh, he’s opposition he doesn’t deserve that. He’s not eligible because he’s supporting Mr. Bennett [the MDC MP for Chimanimani]. If you want land you must go to Mr. Bennett.’ The DA was there, the councilor, and even a number of war vets, about 150 people altogether. Others were given land but not me. The Zanu people and war vets were shouting; the DA and councilor were not involved. I recently consulted the DA to find out what had happened to my claim, and he was 133 Human Rights Watch interview, villager from communal area, Harare, July 16, 2001. Human Rights Watch interview, young man, Nhedziwa ward, Chimanimani, July 17, 2001. 135 Human Rights Watch interview, Harare resident, July 16, 2001. Party cards are increasingly required even to be able to travel in the rural areas, where youth militia stage informal roadblocks and demand that travelers demonstrate their loyalty to the ruling party. See for example Basildon Peta, “Party cards run out as Mugabe enforces loyalty,” Independent on Sunday (London), January 20, 2002, as well as reports from the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. 136 Human Rights Watch interview, communal area resident, Murerwa, Mashonaland East, July 27, 2001. 137 Human Rights Watch interview, ex-district administrator, Matabeleland South, August 2, 2001 134 Human Rights Watch 29 March 2002, Vol. 14, No. 1 (A)