KEY POINTS
- Over 200,000 home seekers in Harare have been affected by corruption in land allocation.
- The Harare City Council has abandoned its waiting list, colluding with land barons to allocate stands.
- The council has lost millions in revenue due to irregular land deals and poor land management.
More than 200,000 aspiring homeowners have been left stranded as the Harare City Council is embroiled in allegations of corruption and collusion with land barons. The revelation came to light during an ongoing Commission of Inquiry into the operations of the council since 2017.
The inquiry has revealed that the Harare City Council has abandoned its official waiting list of home seekers, instead allocating residential stands to land barons and relatives of council officials. This practice has deprived 220,000 legitimate applicants of access to land for homeownership, despite having legally applied through the City Council’s channels.
Admission of irregularities
Blessing Muroiwa, chairperson of the Harare City Council’s housing, health, education, and licensing committee, acknowledged the irregularities in the land allocation process. During his testimony before the Commission of Inquiry, Muroiwa admitted that the system has become chaotic and needs urgent reform.
“I would like to agree with you (Commission of Inquiry) when you are saying chaotic because the allocation of stands and the allocation of houses has been overtaken by events that must be corrected. It is somehow in a chaotic situation,” Muroiwa admitted.
According to New Zimbabwe, the council officials are accused of working hand-in-hand with land barons, allowing them to bypass the official waiting list. These barons, in turn, approach the council with a list of beneficiaries, who are then allocated stands without following the formal process, undermining the rights of those on the waiting list.
Regularisation of unoccupied land
The inquiry also found that the council’s regularisation of unoccupied land has been mismanaged, leading to the improper allocation of land. Muroiwa pointed out that the town planning process has been severely disrupted, causing disorder in land management across Harare.
“It has affected the smooth running of land allocation in the fact that the town planner is no longer planning as he must be doing. It is like putting the donkeys ahead of the cart. The effect of that is we end up having a disorderly city. It (regularisation) has been prejudiced,” Muroiwa said.
The misallocation of land has not only prejudiced aspiring homeowners but has also led to significant financial losses for the Harare City Council. The council is reported to have lost millions of dollars in revenue due to the unscrupulous land deals.
Muroiwa acknowledged these financial losses, stating, “I agree (that the council has lost money from the unscrupulous deals).”
The Commission of Inquiry continues to investigate the full extent of the corruption and cronyism within the Harare City Council, with further revelations expected in the coming weeks.
