Harare City Council is divided over the ongoing wave of demolitions in the capital, with senior officials trading accusations as a fresh round of destruction is scheduled to commence this week.
Sources indicated that several structures in the St Martins residential area and other suburbs were slated for demolition beginning tomorrow, escalating tensions between council factions.
A senior official at the local municipality, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Standard that the St Martins demolitions have created deep divisions within council, with rival camps clashing over jurisdiction and authority.
“The divisions over the St Martins demolitions at Harare City Council are now public knowledge. What remains unclear is who actually sanctioned the demolitions,” the source revealed.
The source also alleged that a prominent Zanu-PF figure is aggressively positioning to acquire the prime land once the current occupants are displaced, though these claims remain unsubstantiated.
The upcoming demolitions are expected to clear a further 15 hectares of land, intensifying suspicions about the true motivations behind the operation.
Council officials have remained conspicuously silent on the matter, refusing to respond to repeated inquiries from this publication.
The Combined Harare Residents Association director, Reuben Akili, said the government must implement the recommendations of a commission of inquiry into council operations to effectively deal with corruption related to land deals.
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“As CHRA, we are not shocked about these divisions at Harare City Council. Time and again we have raised concerns about corrupt officials, and we have witnessed questionable deals on wetlands sail through without scrutiny,” Akili said.
“We placed our faith in Justice Maphios Cheda’s Commission of Inquiry, but they have failed to deliver justice.”
Harare Residents Trust (HRT) director Precious Shumba revealed that his organisation has formally petitioned President Emmerson Mnangagwa to urgently release the commission of inquiry report.
“The Harare Residents Trust has officially written to the president requesting him to urgently release the report of the commission of inquiry into financial affairs in the city,” Shumba said.
“Revelations during the public hearings demonstrated that council was being destroyed from within by its own policymakers and bureaucrats.”
Shumba further alleged that unproven claims have emerged suggesting some cabinet ministers are directly involved with land cartels in Harare, potentially complicating the President's response to the commission's findings.
“The Harare Residents Trust urges the president to act within his powers to preserve public interest in dealing with the overflowing rot at the heart of Harare City Council’s governance.”
The Southern Africa Regional Anti-Corruption Organisation’s director, Paddington Kadzungura, expressed dismay at the pervasive corruption within the Harare City Council.
“It's deeply painful to realise that we have allowed corruption to infiltrate every sector of our economy,” Kadzungura lamented.
“Council officials masquerading as torch-bearers of justice are at the core of this network of chaos.”
He pointed to a systemic pattern of exploitation at the local authority.
“A simple check will reveal that many municipalities have participated in the so-called distribution of land to citizens through housing cooperatives and schemes.
“Many citizens now facing demolitions were actually told they were occupying stands legally. D
“What astonishes people is that, 15 years down the line, the same authorities who took money from them now claim the occupation is illegal, demanding immediate vacation without allowing residents time to collect their belongings.”
The upcoming demolitions this week are expected to displace hundreds of families.
