Mutare City Council chamber secretary Cephas Vuta has recommended an out-of-court settlement with 760 illegal settlers claiming that their resistance to eviction was politically-motivated.
BY KENNETH NYANGANI
The illegal settlers from the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation Association (ZHPFA) illegally occupied the Devonshire open space in Mutare last year and are living in squalid conditions without water and sewer facilities as the council has declined to recognise the settlement.
Mutare City Council recently made a High Court application for the eviction of the settlers.
In a full council meeting yesterday, Vuta said the court process would take a long time for the matter to be resolved.
“This matter is in the High Court and this will take a long time. There are challenges, some of them have politics, we are appealing for an out-of-court settlement,” he said.
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“This is a sensitive matter, so we are hoping that we are going to deal with the matter.’’
The illegal settlers have already vowed they will not leave the place.
Two weeks ago, Zanu PF Dangamvura/Chikanga constituency legislator Esau Mupfumi told the illegal settlers that he was engaging the Local Government ministry for the open space to be turned into a residential area.