Judith Ngozo, Epworth

Residents in Epworth are calling on Council and government to regularize their settlements, providing title deeds, ensuring  security of tenure and  avoid further demolitions for unregulated houses.

In Epworth, households without title deeds risk losing their properties should the government embark on clean up campaigns that may lead to the demolitions of unregulated settlements.

Esnath Chatsanga, a resident from Epworth a victim of demolitions says there is need for the government to ensure security of tenure for their properties,  she and others in her community have lost their homes due to demolitions.

“We had built a five roomed house only to be told that it was not a regularized settlement, falling within an area that was demarcated for road construction. Our houses were demolished without notice and up to now there has not been any compensation,” Chatsanga said.

Since 2017, when their houses were demolished Chitsanga and her family have borne the burden of becoming tenants and are struggling to pay rentals.

“Council had promised to compensate us with regulated residential stands but due to the high rise of land barons, we believe that when these stands are made available, they take them and sell to the people who have more money and are not even from around Epworth, we continue to struggle for shelter. We call upon Council to resolve this housing crisis in Epworth,” Chitsanga said.

Due to the high demand of housing in Harare, there has been an emergence of housing cooperatives, (land barons) who have bridged the gap between council and residents selling land.

These cooperatives over the years have been selling land, in some cases reserved for recreational facilities or on wetlands and have been embroiled in scandals of double allocation of land, leading to demolitions and loss of property for residents.

Ward 29, Budiro South Councillor Blessing Duma during a Full Council Meeting last week raised concern on the continued existence of land barons who continue to swindle home-seekers selling un-serviced stands, while Council is taking no action against them.

“We have Shelter Zimbabwe and Pure Gold Housing Project that are currently selling un-serviced stands. They have sold more than 10 000 residential stands on un-serviced land. This is a cartel of land barons called Pure Gold and Shelter Zimbabwe which are employees of the City of Harare, that are selling unregularized stands that is why there is no action being taken against such land barons,” Councillor Duma, said.

Community Alliance for Human Settlements in Zimbabwe, a land rights coalition   launched its Land Protection Guide to encourage engagements and advocacy for the protection of citizens from having their houses demolished.

“The Community Land protection guide is influenced by the demand for land in Zimbabwe due to population growth, climate change and campaigns for fair access to land,” read part of the CAHSZ’s statement.

According CAHSZ the heightened demand for land in rural, agricultural, mining, resettlement and peri-urban areas has resulted in tensions among communities, traditional leaders, government officials and private sector.

“In some cases, traditional leaders have bypassed customary land allocation procedures, turning community land distributions into a commodity by demanding excessive financial contributions. This has led to partisan land distribution, multiple claims in the same land leading to conflicts within communities,” reads CAHSZ statement.