HARARE City Council prides itself in threatening to demolish 22 000 houses allegedly built in undesignated areas.
I am not sure why the entire council brazenly declare war against residents who have toiled in order to at least put up a structure.
It is a pity that most of the victims fell prey to unscrupulous land barons who tricked them into believing that nothing will happen to them and milked them of their hard-earned money.
No one wants to have their property demolished as long as there is a window for negotiation with regards regularisation, considering the costs involved in construction.
Many people have applied for council land and some have been patiently renewing their waiting list number, but nothing has come to fruition.
The land is corruptly allocated to friends, relatives and those who can grease the hands of the executives, leaving the poor in desperation for long.
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If the land belongs to council and will be allocated to someone at a later date, why not just regularise and get the necessary revenue that council is in dire need of?
Local Government and Public Works minister Daniel Garwe has steered our government towards vision 2020 in terms of shelter.
I visited housing projects currently being run by Zvimba East Veterans Investment Company (ZEVIC) on behalf of our esteemed war veterans and was pleased about the progress in Norton and Nyabira.
The low cost stands ZEVIC is planning will be a game-changer in the push towards shelter for all by 2030.
Government should, therefore, render its utmost support to such dedicated and considerate land developers who improve people’s welfare and are not merely after their money.
Hats off to the ZEVIC board led by the visionary Israel Gada who intends to spread its wings to all the 10 provinces of this country.
National Development Strategy 1 is ending just seven months from now and at least 220 000 new housing units should be established by the end of 2025 and one million units by 2030.
With these inhumane demolitions, we are taking four steps forward and then six steps backwards, yet we expect to achieve all our targets within the stipulated time.
We wait to see the punishment that the Local Government ministry is going to mete out on the city authorities if they demolish the 22 000 houses they intend to.
There should come a time when office bearers are held responsible for the costs involved in construction and demolition.
All of us should be considerate as we execute our duties, but being overzealous because you have just been lucky to win a council seat does not give you the power to strangulate others.
I do not condone what the mayor did, especially now that we are in winter.
People should not regret being citizens of their own country.
I want to personally thank Vice-President Kembo Mohadi for stopping the demolitions last November.
The decision may have come late, but it is plausible since the arrogant city fathers had promised to run over Harare with more demolitions.
The President should know that many people are living in anguish because their homes are being demolished in farms, towns and cities on a daily basis.
Many people are crying daily, they are languishing in poverty because of the high rate of unemployment in the country.
Corruption continues to rear its ugly head in land issues, with some farms being clandestinely converted to private property, yet they are supposed to remain State land.
Warwick Farm near Lake Chivero is at the centre of a storm as hundreds of settlers are facing eviction by a developer who claims to own the farm despite the fact that the farm was gazetted in the year 2000.
How did gazetted land end up in the hands of individuals?
This is where the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission should prove its mettle.
My advice is wherever there are supposed to be demolitions, investigations should be done to establish why the other parties should be removed.
In most cases, we realise there is massive corruption going on around the country.
We say no to unnecessary demolitions in our mother land.