LOCAL Government minister Ignatius Chombo has warned that government will demolish illegal houses in Chitungwiza and ordered the immediate stop to the construction of houses on illegal pieces of land.
MOSES MATENGA
The move could affect over 30 000 people who had built illegal structures at Manyame Park and in Seke after they were clandestinely allocated land in unserviced open spaces by some officials in Chitungwiza.
But Chombo said the demolition of illegal housing structures, some built on open spaces reserved for public facilities, would be replicated countrywide, a move that could likely hit at hundreds of thousands of home-seekers.
He appointed a task team led by his deputy Joel Biggie Matiza to investigate cases of unlawful parcelling out of land by Manyame Rural District council and Chitungwiza Municipality to examine how thousands of people illegally acquired land for unsanctioned construction.
“Government cannot allow this unacceptable scenario to persist unchecked. It is in this light that the ministry has deemed it prudent to take necessary measures to curb and reverse these unsanctioned developments,” Chombo said.
“In the meantime, the ministry is directing that all construction work on illegally allocated stands should stop forthwith. Those who will choose to continue will not only be breaching the laws of the land, but risk losing their resources as some of their structures will have to be demolished.”
Chombo said local urban authorities had failed to follow the law by allowing the mushrooming of illegal structures, adding that an audit would be conducted countrywide.
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“It is essential for the citizens to note that the interventions that we have initiated in regard to Chitungwiza Municipality and Seke communal areas be replicated across the country as we make veritable efforts to restore order and compliance in the 92 local authorities in Zimbabwe,” he said.
He threatened to fire council officials, headmen and village heads responsible for unlawful parcelling out of land on cemeteries, pastures and land zoned for other uses within the next two weeks to send a clear message.
The task team will, among other things, investigate the extent of illegal land sales, allocations, development and usage, establish the number and identity of individuals, co-operatives and developers involved in the illegal land sales and stand allocations, to verify the status of the land that was illegally allocated in both Chitungwiza and Seke.
Matiza, according to Chombo, will hold public consultative meetings on the matter.
At the same meeting, a Goromonzi traditional leader Chief Chikwaka, born Witness Bungu, said he did not want MDC-T “people” to be settled in his area as that would make Zanu PF lose in the 2018 elections.
“One of the village heads was arrested, but he was given VIP treatment. We are complaining to you, Sir, so that all this is stopped. We don’t want illegal settlements because in 2018, we will have MDC people here. They are from another mother (MDC) and their leader is against land reform and he told them not to get land,” Chief Chikwaka said.
Government in 2005 embarked on a clean-up campaign dubbed Operation Murambatsvina, resulting in hundreds of thousands of housing structures and market stalls being razed down as they were deemed illegally built.
At least 700 000 people throughout the country were affected by the demolitions.
