ILLEGAL land development has continued on a disputed school stand in Tynwald suburb despite a provisional court order barring any such development on the piece of land.
The stand in question has a pending court case involving the Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) versus the City of Harare, Local Government and Public Works minister and the Primary and Secondary Education minister.
In case HC5420/20, High Court judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi on May 20, 2021, reserved judgment and ordered that pending the judgment, the first respondent (City of Harare) shall not allow any development to take place on stands 2164 and 2165 Tynwald South, Harare, nor allow any further processing of any documentation or other action to commence.
Tynwald South residents, represented by HRT, took up the matter with the High Court following the takeover of their primary school stand by the City of Harare in violation of the provisions of the Education Act.
The right to education of children in Tynwald South has been compromised as a result of this situation.
However, despite this judgment, Tynwald South residents have reported that there is development taking place on the disputed school stand.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), on behalf of the HRT and Tynwald South residents on May 28, 2021, wrote to Gambe Law Group, the lawyers representing the City of Harare that there was unlawful development on the stand.
The ZLHR urged the council lawyers to advise the City of Harare to “take urgent action to cease the activities on site, failing which the ZLHR would have no option but to institute contempt of court proceedings”.
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Despite this correspondence in respect of the provisional court order, Tynwald South residents have reported that they have noticed renewed development on stand.
HRT holds the City of Harare fully responsible for defying the court order by allowing illegal development which was barred by the High Court.
It is because of such contempt of the law that the City of Harare has continued to experience challenges in the handling of land corruption matters. -Harare Residents’ Trust
