The making and unmaking of Epworth

12 Oct, 2014 - 09:10 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Epworth is situated roughly 12km from Harare’s Central Business District due southeast, and the settlement was first established in the late 1890s by the Methodist Church, then led by Reverend John White and a Rev Shimmin.

Throughout the colonial era, Epworth consisted of only two villages; Chiremba, which was the focal point of all activities, and Chizungu.

However, in the late 1970s, Epworth witnessed a population surge as people originally from rural areas sought semi-urban refuge during the liberation struggle.

At Independence in 1980, around 20 000 people were resident at the settlement.

Subjected to the continued growth in population, the Methodist Church donated part of the settlement to the Ministry of Local Government in 1983 for establishment of a residential complex.

In 1986 the Epworth Local Board was established under the Urban Councils Act and its mandate was to provide services and be responsible for the design and rationalisation of the settlement.

Meanwhile, the population of the settlement continued to grow in leaps and bounds, and by 2002, the population stood at around 113 884.

Epworth has lagged behind in terms of the provision of basic provisions such as roads, sewer and clean water required for a properly planned settlement.

Epworth has witnessed an increase in the sprouting of informal dwellings that have with time been formalised by the local board.

This has resulted in the growth of “famous” settlements such as Solani, Stop Over and Dombo ra Mwari.

Other settlements in Epworth include Ruware, Overspill, Jacha, Mupini wa Svotoka and Kwa Khedhishi.

This is the background to the stand-off with authorities who have been demolishing houses in Epworth.

A number of the short-lived Ku Stubhu or Pentagon settlement residents, who were the most affected by the demolitions, believe the local board has been heavy-handed.

They say most settlements in Epworth started off informal and they too should be given support to formalise.

“Even if the structures were put up on prohibited land, we want to argue on the manner and the callousness of the destruction which was a bit inhumane,” said one of the victims, Mr Mark Chitsinde.

“All our belongings were destroyed within a blink of an eye, which put us at the mercy of depravation and unfavourable weather conditions.”

Another victim, Ms Beulah Mutangadura, said the local board should have first found alternative accommodation before embarking on demolitions.

“We have nothing at the moment, and we do not know even know where to start after all our lifetime belongings were destroyed by the authorities.”

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