For years, thousands of desperate home seekers from Stoneridge in Harare South believed they were securing a future for their families.
They paid administration fees, legal contributions and other charges demanded by a cooperative, Takunda Freedom Fighters Housing Cooperative Society, linked to a group of war veterans that controlled a disputed a 113-hectare piece of land, popularly known as “Mudurawall”.
Many invested their life savings, erected homes, established businesses and enrolled their children in schools built within the settlement or in the neighbourhood.
Today, many of those same families are homeless or living in fear as the land remains the subject of protracted legal disputes, raising difficult questions about how thousands of dollars may have been collected from desperate home seekers while the ownership of the land was still contested.
The former liberation war fighters had been embroiled in a long bitter ownership wrangle involving the area with a Chinese national, Xinfeng Li, who claimed that he was the legit owner of a 20ha piece of land within the war veterans' territory thereby igniting a bitter fight that spilled into the courts.
The war veterans argued that they were given the land by government and that it was gazetted in 2006 into state land before it was allocated to them for resettlement in 2017.
Members of Takunda Freedom Fighters Housing Cooperative Society claimed the Chinese national only came demanding that 20ha of the piece of the land belonged to him after they had been allocated by the government.
At first the members allocated four 300 square-metre residential stands per member before selling the remainder to home seekers. Some members also allocated themselves commercial stands within the area.
Roads that followed housing development plans to ensure proper parcel division, utility access and zoning compliance were built before individual building permits were issued.
Prospective home seekers were encouraged to submit housing plans that met the cooperative’s standards and matched the architectural guidelines and zoning bylaws.
Within two years, that was not the case as the area became free for all as the members of the cooperative turned into land barons.
An investigation by Truth Diggers has uncovered allegations of financial irregularities, lack of accountability and questionable governance practices within the cooperative’s committee that managed the settlement.
Interviews with residents also suggested that the “Mudurawall”saga is part of a broader national pattern in which land barons, politically connected networks and alleged corruption have left thousands of home seekers counting devastating losses.
A system built around control
Residents alleged that the committee exercised near-total control over economic and administrative activities within the area, overseeing residential stand allocations while also benefiting from commercial enterprises operating on the land.
According to several residents, tuckshops, gas-selling operations, private schools and other learning institutions operated under the influence or protection of individuals linked to the committee.
“They controlled everything,” said one resident, who requested anonymity.
“If you wanted information about your stand, you had to go through them, especially the chairman, VaMudzvanya.
“If there was a meeting, they controlled it. If money was needed, they collected it.”
Several residents alleged that they were repeatedly asked to contribute funds for administration and legal expenses linked to the ongoing court battles over the land.
Yet many now question how those funds were managed.
Some residents claimed receipts were either not issued or inconsistently provided, making it difficult to track payments. Others alleged that proper financial records were not maintained.
“There was never any clear accounting,” said another resident.
“We kept paying because we believed the land issue would eventually be resolved.”
Some affected home seekers are now calling for an independent forensic audit of the cooperative’s books to establish how much money was collected and how it was utilised over the years.
Double allocations and broken promises
Truth Diggers also uncovered allegations of double allocations, with some residents claiming that the same residential stands were sold or allocated to more than one beneficiary.
“I got a residential stand in the area and I did not develop it, only to find out that someone had occupied the piece of land,” said one home seeker.
The home seeker said the double allocations fuelled tensions among residents, who feared they would lose both their money and their homes.
“In some instances roads would be closed to create space for residential stands,” said a source.
Some residents said they were never fully informed about the extent of the legal dispute surrounding the land.
Court records and interviews with stakeholders indicated that ownership of the property has been contested for years.
Yet many residents continued making payments and developing their properties despite the uncertainty.
"We were led to believe everything would be resolved," said one resident. "Had we known the full picture, some of us would have thought twice before investing our savings."
Political shield?
Residents also alleged that meetings convened to discuss land matters often transformed into political gatherings.
According to several attendees, discussions on stand allocations and legal developments frequently gave way to partisan political messaging.
Some believe political affiliation was used as a shield against scrutiny and accountability.
"They made it seem like questioning them was the same as opposing the party," said one resident.
Others claimed that the political atmosphere discouraged people from demanding financial transparency or seeking answers about the ongoing litigation.
The perception of political protection has become more pronounced following claims by affected residents that groups linked to liberation war veterans played a central role in occupying and subdividing the land before it was sold to home seekers.
Living large while residents waited
Investigations by Truth Diggers also revealed growing resentment over what residents described as the contrasting lifestyles of some committee members.
Several alleged that committee officials appeared to enjoy significant financial benefits while ordinary stand holders continued to live with uncertainty and the threat of eviction.
Truth Diggers established that some committee members own homes outside the contested settlement, raising questions among residents about the extent to which leaders personally benefited from the arrangement.
“Most of the committee members have houses outside this place,” said one resident.
“Inside the durawalls they control everything, shebeens, tuckshops and pre-schools.”
Bulldozers, tears and a community torn apart
Two weeks ago bulldozers moved into “Mudurawall”, demolishing several homes and leaving a myriad of families homeless.
Many residents said they had nowhere else to go.
"This area was taken over by war veterans, people who fought for this country's liberation," said one resident whose home was demolished.
"Harare South is the constituency, which wins the presidency for Zanu PF every time.
“We do not know who has sanctioned this now. We want them to give us land which will be ours because we do not have anywhere else to go."
For many families, the demolitions marked not just the destruction of physical structures, but the collapse of a dream they believed had been legally secured.
Harare Residents Trust: ‘The victims are being punished twice’
The unfolding Stoneridge crisis has reignited debate over the role of land barons and politically connected networks in Zimbabwe's urban housing sector.
In a statement, the Harare Residents Trust (HRT) said the Stoneridge demolitions expose a long-running system in which desperate home seekers are exploited while those responsible remain untouched.
"The facts are clear. Land barons have been systematically selling state and council land to desperate home seekers without any council authority," the trust said.
"Worse, there is strong suspicion that corrupt council officials actively collaborated with these land barons, arming unsuspecting buyers with falsified documents that appeared to grant legitimate building permission."
According to the trust, the result is that thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans—people who saved diligently, built in good faith and dreamed of owning homes—have been left devastated and counting their losses.
The organisation further alleged that many land barons enjoy well-known connections to ruling party officials and government bureaucrats, allowing them to operate with impunity.
"Not one has been held accountable. This is not justice. This is victimising the victim twice," the trust said.
The HRT has called on the government and President Emmerson Mnangagwa to release the long-awaited Justice Tendai Uchena Commission of Inquiry into State and Council Land Sales in Peri-Urban Areas, arguing that the report is believed to contain crucial findings on the operations of land barons and the alleged involvement of politically connected individuals and government officials in fraudulent land sales.
“This report has been gathering dust for far too long," the trust said.
Council distances itself
Harare mayor Jacob Mafume has urged residents to verify the legality of land purchases before building, warning that failure to do so could end in tragedy.
"People must make sure that wherever they are building they have a legal right," Mafume said.
"They must check with our district offices, check the legality of their papers and before they purchase anything, make sure that everything is kosher.
“They must make sure that they are within the four corners of the law; otherwise, if you are outside the law there will be tears sooner or later."
Mafume, however, argued that the Stoneridge demolitions were beyond the direct control of the city council, saying they stemmed from court processes involving private parties.
Yet the issue remains contentious. A leaked council document reportedly identifies illegal structures across more than 22 000 hectares of land reserved for public amenities, roads and wetlands as earmarked for demolition.
Council spokesperson Stanley Gama said structures built without approvals or on land designated for essential public infrastructure would be removed.
The cooperative’s secretary Teclar Chagwambare could not be reached for comment yesterday so was Harare South MP Trymore Kanopula.
*Truth Diggers is the investigative unit of Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), publishers of NewsDay, Zim Independent, The Standard and Southern Eye. AMH also operates an online broadcasting channel HStv