Harare residents have questioned the government regarding President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s promise to regularize some informal settlements, including the populous Epworth, where hundreds of title deeds were handed out ahead of the August 2023 harmonized elections.
Mnangagwa had pledged to distribute more than 11,000 title deeds to Epworth residents a month before the polls while the Cabinet endorsed the Kwangu/Ngakwami Presidential Title Deeds Programme Consortium.
The program aimed to provide the financial and technical support needed for issuing the title deeds. Mnangagwa followed up by handing out 265 securitized title deeds to Epworth residents and pledged to provide more as he launched the program at Epworth High School.
A title deed is a formal document legally defining how a property is allotted, owned, and transferred by the holder.
However, NewsDay has learned that only a few individuals with close ties to the ruling Zanu PF party received the title deeds, and the Zanu PF government appears to have abandoned the project post-elections.
“Only a few were issued, those with close ties to Zanu PF. Land barons led by John Mabwe (coordinator and spokesperson for Kushinga Epworth Residents Trust) and Moyo are holding the Epworth Local Board at ransom, contesting the authenticity of the layout plans and general plans of Epworth. Court cases over stand boundaries remain unresolved, and even the surveyor general has yet to take action,” sources told NewsDay.
Mabwe said the layout plan did not correspond with a map made in 2001 when squatters received occupiers’ cards.
“The layout plan that was used does not match the map. We have simply challenged this. Many elderly widows and orphans were left out of the 2022 layout plan, which was not even approved by the Surveyor-General.
“We want title deeds as soon as possible, but we want the right procedure to be followed and the right people to benefit. In Ward 6 (Overspill Extension), council pegged stands using a fake layout plan, Plan number H.O.F 8, and increased them from 3,856 to 3,904 to benefit some council officials.
“So the regularization process is very scandalous. Council is doing what the High Court interdicted. That’s contempt of court.”
Epworth Town Secretary Wilton Mhanda refused to comment on the matter.
When contacted for comment, National Housing and Social Amenities Secretary Theodius Chinyanga requested questions in writing and said he could respond today.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba, who is accompanying Mnangagwa to the African Development Bank Group 2024 Annual Meetings in Nairobi, Kenya, was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Epworth North legislator Zivai Mhetu said residents had received deeds of grant, not title deeds.
“There is a difference between a deed of grant and a title deed. Development must take place first, such as the installation of roads, among other things.
“When this happens, Epworth residents will be able to receive title deeds in both paper and digital form. Hence, I will be lobbying Parliament for the construction of roads in Epworth,” he said. A deed of grant is issued on land where there is no title deed except for a certificate of State title.
The rights to the property are granted by the State to the beneficiary, and the State can include any conditions precedent to the transfer of the rights.
Source: Newsday
