The Sunday News
Sunday News Reporter
THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works are compiling a list of dysfunctional urban settlements as Government prepares to demolish houses constructed on wetlands and irregular settlements.
In Midlands Province, Government identified 100 dysfunctional settlements of which 25 of them are on wetlands. Of the 25 settlements developed on wetlands, 16 are in Gweru. These areas are unable to meet adequate social and environmental requirements for human settlement.
“Of the 100 dysfunctional settlements either existing or emerging, in the Midlands Province, 25 are on wetlands with 16 of them being in Gweru District while there are two each in Gokwe South, Kwekwe and Shurugwi. Mberengwa, Mvuma and Zvishavane districts have one each.
“Apparently property developers fail to meet required timeframes and standards on the provisions of basic infrastructure,” reads part of the Midlands Province Schedule of dysfunctional urban settlements.
National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel Garwe said his ministry and the Local Government and Public Works had identified dysfunctional urban settlements and were preparing a comprehensive report.
“The Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities is working together with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works and the Department of Civil Protection Unit to identify the number of dysfunctional settlements, once the document is ready the information will be availed,” he said.
Minister Garwe said desperate home seekers who fell prey to land barons and bought residential stands and built houses on undesignated and unapproved areas will have to pay for the land development services.
He said Government will also demolish illegal structures and houses that were built along sewerage pipes and power lines.
He said the fleeced home seekers would have to institute legal proceedings to recover money from the land barons while Government on the other hand repossess the land and develops it.
Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) president and Gweru Mayor Councillor Josiah Makombe applauded President Mnangagwa for taking a bold step to restore sanity in urban areas.
Meanwhile, Police Special Investigations Unit and Special Anti-Corruption Unit (SACU) have arrested senior council officials who were working with land barons to fraudulently acquire State land and selling it in towns.
The development comes as the Government has also warned that all houses that were built on top of sewerage lines and along power lines in all cities will be demolished.
Sunday News understands that various teams, comprising police officers and SACU members, have been deployed to all cities and towns across the country to arrest land barons who have been implicated in illegal acquisition and abuse of State land. More arrests will be made this week, officials said.
The operation has since netted suspected land barons and corrupt council officials including Harare City Council Chamber Secretary, Charles Kandemiri who was arrested on Friday while the city’s finance director, Stanley Ndemera is on the run following police investigations in connection with criminal inquiries relating to land allocation and sales in the capital.
On Wednesday last week, 12 officials from the City of Harare were arrested for criminal abuse of office in the acquisition of land and sales. In Gweru prominent businesswoman and property developer, Smelly Dube was also arrested on allegations of illegal acquisition of State land following the Uchena Commission Report on Sale of State Land Around Urban Areas in 2019.
Dube appeared in court while on her hospital bed at a local private hospital in Gweru where she is reportedly ill.
Special Anti-Corruption Unit (SACU) head Mr Tabani Mpofu said the operation was being conducted countrywide and all land barons and council officials who were involved in opaque land deals and sales will be arrested.
“We have an operation where we are looking at the allocation of land including State land in and around towns and cities as well as abuse of State land by either local authorities or land barons.
“The programme is ongoing and will be executed in all towns and cities. Unfortunately, we can’t disclose the names of the people and council officials that have been implicated.
“The process is ongoing and we are arresting these land barons,” he said.
