Demolitions: Residents Trust blasts ‘land cartels’

• ‘Land barons, council, Govt officials working together’
• Demolished houses 10 years old
• Destroy, rebuild system employed
• Is it for political expediency?

By Daniel Kachere

The Harare Residents Trust (HRT) has come out guns blazing, accusing officials in President Mnangagwa’s Government and the MDC-A run City of Harare, of conniving with land barons to illegally acquire land that is sold to unsuspecting home seekers.
This follows the rolling out of mass demolitions of houses built on land allocated by 21 housing cooperatives, which commenced in Budiriro, where 190 houses were destroyed leaving over 900 residents stranded and thousands of dollars’ worth of furniture destroyed.
The demolitions were conducted on the eve of International Human Rights Day.
Shelter is a basic human right recognised by both the United Nations bill of rights and Zimbabwe’s Constitution.
Authorities carried out the demolitions despite driving rains, which have been pounding the city and many parts of the country.
Families, including women and children, were left exposed to the cold and wet weather as some of them spent the night on rubbles of what used to be their homes.
“Local authorities are corrupt to the core. There are councillors who connive with management, land barons and central Government officials to fleece Government and local authorities of land,” said HRT founder and coordinator, Precious Shumba.
Some of those who lost their homes in Budiriro had spent US$2 500 buying housing stands through Caleb Kadye’s Tembwe Housing Cooperative.
They constructed houses over the past decade only to be told that they were illegal settlers through court papers that were accompanied by demolition orders.
“A lot of these cartels manipulate the processes and create fake documentation. However, a lot of the victims do not verify the documents, and therefore end up paying money for stands illegally acquired,” said Shumba.
“The land does not belong to these corrupt individuals, but they do not know that.”
Shumba accused local authorities of deliberately making it close to impossible to acquire housing stands through the city council thus creating a conducive environment for land barons to fleece unsuspecting home seekers.
“The local authorities have dismally failed to service housing land for systematic land allocations for housing developments. This has exerted unbearable pressure on desperate citizens who want urban housing land,” he said.
“The majority of the victims are then convinced to quickly put up structures soon after paying, and are further convinced that the structures would be regularised in due course. However, the due course of the law catches up with them and they lose out on their investments through demolitions”.
Shumba said the cartels consisting of land barons, council and Government officials must be brought to book.
“The corrupt councillors, management, and central Government officials have their proxies who go into communities seeking land buyers. These desperate buyers pay in US dollars for housing stands averaging US$10 000 to the cartels,” he said.
“The cartels will in turn convert a few hundred US dollars into RTGS and pay the local authority, thus individuals within the local authorities are abusing their powers and authority to make money out of council and State land.
“They have no right to possess council land without legal authority. These are criminals, and must be held accountable for the loss of investments to the victims of housing demolitions.”
Both council and Government officials are now blaming each other.
In Harare, for instance, ZANU PF’s Local Government and Public Works minister July Moyo reportedly lords over the local authority which is run by the MDC Alliance, thus many have started to view the demolitions as a matrix for political expediency.
However, the MDC Alliance has distanced itself from the fracas, rather putting the blame on ZANU PF’s infighting where land is being used as a tool to deal with those out of line.
MDC Alliance Secretary for Local Government Sesel Zvidzai told the media that the demolitions are an order from Local Government Minister July Moyo, Harare Provincial Minister Oliver Chidawu and Provincial Development Coordinator Tafadzwa Muguti.
“The MDC Alliance condemns the callous, disproportionate demolitions of homes that are currently being carried out by Central Government, in particular the Ministry of Local Government – Mr July Moyo, the Provincial Minister – Oliver Chidawu and the Provincial Development Co-ordinator – Tafadzwa Muguti,” said Zvidzai.
“The current demolitions have been triggered by ZANU PF in-fighting where urban land is being used as an election tool as well as a sword against those who have fallen out of favour with the system.”
Indications are that both central and local government have failed with regards to land allocations, yet corrupt individuals from these quarters would have pocketed huge sums of money in illegal land dealings. Nhau/Indaba