There is a very wise English adage that says “prevention is better than cure”. It is, however, unfortunate that many of those tasked with positions of authority in this country are not wise enough to heed such wisdom.
NewsDay Comment We see this in the manner that our local authorities — sometimes with the blessings of the government — destroy people’s houses on the basis that they are illegal structures. Yet, what we find surprising is that, most of these houses are built with the blessing of councils, some of whose officials would actually have received various amounts of money from desperate home seekers as bribes.
A government and local authority that are clueless on how to resolve the pressing issues facing this country often seek to sway attention by majoring on the minors. And this is exactly what we are seeing in this season of madness.
Hundreds of people will be “celebrating” a bleak Christmas this year after their houses were razed down in Budiriro and other suburbs in Harare. These families, and children in particular, will now have to spend the festive season living in the open, while contending with the angry moods of nature in this rainy season.
Only a cruel government and local authority — that have failed to deliver on their mandates — behave in such a heartless manner. Everyone knows that people are desperate for houses, and many bureaucrats are now capitalising on the shortage of houses to rip off these desperate people and sell them pieces of land only to come back tomorrow and label the same stands “illegal”.
Just yesterday, the government ordered the demolition of all illegal structures built within 70 metres and 45 metres on either side of railway lines and roads, respectively. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development gave owners of the buildings a 90-day ultimatum to pull down their structures or risk forced removal and prosecution. They further threatened the residents with forced removal and subsequent legal action. But who is going to take legal action against those who sold the stands to them? What is going to happen to those who lined their pockets with the money paid by these home-seekers?
It would appear as if the word “demolish” has of late become the government’s trump card yet these very houses that are now being called illegal were built right before their eyes. Where were they? Or they were waiting for the moment when these poor people had completed construction so they can feel the pain of their loss, as they watch their investments go down the drain? What kind of a government behaves in such a manner? Yet, they would have us believe this is a government for the people, and by the people.
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Now that they have used up the money paid by these people they do not care what happens to them from now on. Something really needs to be done. If the government is really serious, it must conduct a thorough investigation as to how these people acquired the stands and pay compensation to deserving cases.
