10 December was International Human Rights Day,
and just seven days before the day, over 100 families
in Budiriro were left without a roof over their heads.
This was after their homes, built on purported
undesignated land- were demolished.
The City of Harare, with the help of the police, and
armed with court orders, demolished 143 houses,
leaving an estimated 715 people homeless.
The demolitions, which were the most severe in 2020,
follow several such incidents and in all these, families
were left internally displaced and vulnerable.
Sadly demolitions, like the Budiriro one, have been a
result of corrupt and illegal land sales as well as
political contestation.
Ultimately, the human rights of the citizens will
continue to be violated while the corrupt keep getting
away without being punished.
Because of the huge housing backlog, desperate
citizens are falling prey to land barons, most of whom
are politically connected.
Ironically, Tembwe Housing Cooperative, part of which
was demolished, secured land in Budiriro in 2010
through council officials, and obtained certificate of
incorporation as a housing cooperative.
“It was heart breaking
to see women breaking
down and one asking
what she does with a
two month old baby in
the rainy weather. It
was not just inhuman
but cruel to subject
citizens to
demolishing their
homes while they
watched hopelessly,’’
Jestina Mukoko, the
ZPP National Director
According to the Harare Residents Trust, they
allocated land to their members.
“However, in 2014, an identified council Town Planner
Priscilla Charumbira allegedly demanded that they pay
US$45 000 in order to have their housing stands
regularised. Council allegedly wrote their names
down, and assured the stand owners that their stands
would be regularised. However, things changed after
they refused to pay the US$45 000. Charumbira
allegedly initiated through identified proxies to
establish Events Housing Cooperative and offered it
the same land as Tembwe Housing Cooperative.”
It must be noted that shelter is a social right that
every citizen should access and enjoy
The Zimbabwe Peace Project urges
government and local authorities to
regularize land ownership in urban areas
and to root out corruption, which is the
major cause of such incidents, which often
leave citizens as the victims. Where
demolitions are really necessary, affected
individuals must be given long enough
vacation notices so that they can plan on
time.
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