The Sunday Mail
Emmanuel Kafe
It seems there is no respite for desperate home seekers as they continue to be shortchanged by greedy land barons and inept local authorities.
Home seekers settled on wetlands, have been suffering in silence, as attempts to bring land barons and corrupt city fathers to justice have been unsuccessful thus far.
However, the recent damage to residential properties in Harare and Chitungwiza by floods induced by incessant rains has exposed the folly of building on undesignated sites.
The Government has taken a keen interest in establishing how the affected property owners came to be illegally allocated land in the affected areas.
“The Government is, however, deeply concerned with the illegal expansive construction in wetlands and river basins. The current excellent rains received across the country have exposed and laid bare the extent of the associated problems in unplanned settlements in our urban, peri-urban and growth points,” said President Mnangagwa while addressing the nation on Thursday.
“Henceforth, relevant ministries are being constituted into working groups that will focus on social service delivery as well as arresting the negative impact of the chaotic, unplanned illegal settlements.”
The probe is expected to open a can of worms.
Double whammy
Investigations by The Sunday Mail Society revealed that some Budiriro 5B Extension residents are set to have their houses demolished by council for the second time in less than a decade.
“It feels like a never-ending nightmare. I thought I had finally got a reprieve after a false start. I got this stand as compensation for my house that was demolished six years back after it emerged that a housing co-operative introduced to us by some council officials sold stands on unapproved land,” said a dejected Shamiso Gore.
“Just like now, we had stand numbers back then and we were paying rates to council. I have lost so much money in building two houses, on separate occasions, which I have never been able to live in.”
There currently exists a dispute over ownership of the land on which the homes are built.
The affected homeowners bought their stands from Tembwe Housing Co-operative in 2010 and have been paying monthly subscriptions of US$30, or the equivalent in local currency, per month.
“We were told by the city council that . . . our co-operative (Tembwe) was legally registered. Every member contributed monthly subscription fees, and got water connection that was inspected by the city council. When then did the settlement become illegal?” queried Mrs Jennifer Muswera.
However, Harare City Council claims it never sold the land to Tembwe Housing Cooperative.
Instead, it announced in 2015 that it intended to sell the area in question to Events Housing Co-operative.
What is baffling though is why council was willing to sell a piece of land deemed to be a wetland to a housing co-operative?
National Housing and Social Amenities Ministry has ordered those who were duped to stop making payments to either land barons or councils.
In fact, the Government intends to help them sue the criminals and get back their money.
But the affected residents are sceptical.
“I still find myself on the waiting list years after my house was demolished by council despite being promised immediate compensation. I have remained optimistic over the years, paying my subscriptions, because my friend got this stand.
“Sadly, we are once again being told it is an illegal settlement. This is the second time suffering a similar fate at the hands of council and housing co-operatives,” a tearful David (surname withheld) said.
His colleague, Mr Albert Tenga (50), tried to put up a brave face.
He concedes he has become accustomed to pain and loss.
His two-roomed cottage — the place he has called home for close to a decade — was destroyed by floods in Budiriro 5B, leaving his family homeless.
There are at least 134 houses in the community.
“We have a masterplan and layout plans approved by council, but today they are calling us illegal occupants. What is even more baffling is the fact that we have been paying bills and have so many letters from council bearing our addresses,” said Mr Tenga.
Unending cycle
But why would one continue to pay rates and subscriptions even after being duped?
“Council and co-operatives are taking advantage of us. They tell us that only paid-up residents will get first preference when new stands are availed, thus we are left with no choice but to keep on paying, only hoping for the best.”
Budiriro 5B is just a microcosm of a larger problem, where some well-connected corrupt individuals are taking advantage of desperate home seekers.
Cities like Gweru, Bulawayo and Mutare have not been spared by the rot that has left the country’s major cities as havens of corruption.
There are several cases where corrupt officials actually changed zoning and layout plans to include land that should never have been built on in the first place.
In the high density suburb of Tafara/Mabvuku, our crew identified infill stands that are alleged to have been illegally sold to unsuspecting home-seekers.
In some instances, the people knew that the stands were not legal but were made to believe they could be easily regularised.
For instance, in Tafara, along Gurwe Road, the Sithole and Chafesuka families find themselves at the receiving end of the alleged council corruption.
“I got a plan from council to construct a new structure on my stand around 2002. Strangely, they later demolished the building, arguing the place was not suitable for construction,” narrated Mr Vain Chafesuka.
“Surprisingly, a couple of years later that very same land, which is part of my yard, was sold to another person as an infill stand.”
His neighbour, only identified as Mr Sithole, suffered a similar fate.
“I was told the area has water and sewer pipes and was close to the road, which made it an illegal construction site according to council by-laws. But, as you can see, they have since sold the land to someone else. If the law did not allow me to build there, how did it change to accommodate this other person? Clearly corruption is at play,” he queried.
The owners of the infill stands are paying rates yet they are not officially in the council database.
“Go and ask Chirenje those questions, he is the one that handled our paperwork,” fumed one of the infill stand owners after we tried to get clarity.
Chirenje, whose full name could not immediately be ascertained, is understood to have left council after a series of land scandals in the area.
It is alleged that he worked with Sithole (full name withheld), who has since been reassigned.
“We are not allowed to talk to the press. You can get in touch with our head office,” officials from the Tafara Mabvuku offices said.
Efforts to get a comment from Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Michael Chideme were in vain.
Opposition-run councils have been in the spotlight owing to current efforts to reclaim wetlands and arrest rapid urbanisation.
Inhabitants of wetlands encounter a number of problems that include structural failure of their housing units due to flooding.
They are prone to water-borne diseases.
Recent demolitions and plans to demolish more illegal settlements have once again shown the magnitude of corruption and weak implementation of existing environmental laws within local authorities.
To date, Harare City Council has secured 23 court rulings in their favour, and 22 are yet to be executed.
The Budiriro 5 demolition was the first of these orders.
The Government ordered the suspension of the demolitions until the end of the rainy season.
Late last year, six MDC Alliance councillors were arrested for allegedly being involved in land scams.
Harare officials that have appeared in court on corruption charges involving land include ex-Mayor Herbert Gomba, the housing director Addmore Nhekairo, acting human resources director Matthew Marara and principal housing director Edgar Dzehonye.
A week ago, prominent Chitungwiza land baron Frederick Mabamba appeared in court facing fraud allegations after he allegedly sold State land.
“It seems the occupations are now being championed by individuals who are seeking to profit from the ordinary peoples’ quest for land and housing,” notes Harare Progressive Residents Association (HPRA) secretary-general Moses Nyesvurai.
Environmental Management Agency (EMA) is currently working on gazetting all ecologically sensitive areas in line with Section 113 of Environmental Management Act (CAP 20:27) in order to ring-fence wetlands as protected areas.
“The agency is currently working on formalising wetland management guidelines, which will give a generic standard guide to the management of wetlands in Zimbabwe,” revealed EMA spokesperson Amkela Sidange.
EMA has since turned down 20 infrastructural developments from co-operatives and businesses on wetlands, particularly in Budiriro, Msasa and Alexandra Park.
