Harare residents losing thousands on ‘corrupt’ illegal wetland settlements?
By Delicious Mathuthu
Harare residents illegally settled in Kuwadzana and Budiriro wetlands areas are losing properties worth thousands of United States dollars due to flooding, Kwedu News has learnt.
Residents that were controversially settled in some parts of the Kuwadzana, Budiriro and Mufakose suburbs are facing perennial flooding during rain seasons as some allegedly corrupt land barons have invaded wetlands and the 2023-24 rain season is no acception.
In a statement, Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) says residents are losing properties, and even life, in these wetland settlements.
“HRT has visited communities that experienced devastating floods, in Kuwadzana Paddocks and Budiriro where the victims of the floods settled where they should not have been allocated residential stands in the first instance.
“…Every rainy season the residents who illegally settled on these wetlands experience flooding, and they lose thousands of United States Dollars’ worth of their personal possessions like furniture, clothes and food.
“A six-year-old child lost life in Budiriro 5 following a heavy downpour of rains,” the Trust says.
Corruption is at the centre of these wetland residential settlements, the Trust says as desperate residents who fail to take due diligence on paperwork before constructing houses are duped by land barons.
“Wetlands are being destroyed in most communities, with corrupt councillors, council district officials, town planners and political party leaders (are) conniving with land barons to un-procedurally conduct land sales targeting wetlands, recreational and other open spaces.
“Land barons take advantage of desperate house seekers and mislead them into illegal occupation of council and state land,” HRT says.
The Trust says recent heavy rains in Harare have flooded residential ‘stands on the natural paths of water’.
Despite the corruption, the Trust said residents who settled in these watery areas are partly responsible for their misfortunes and tragedy.
“The people who have settled on these wetlands and the sellers involved are equally culpable,” it said, adding that the residents should bear the cost of relocating as they participated in corruptly occupying the wetland stands.
“Relocate all the people illegally settled on wetlands to land serviced by the council, at the
expense of the affected people.
“The affected people paid huge amounts of money to corrupt
land barons and council officials using unverified documentation.
“Every resident should take the responsibility to approach their local council office to verify authenticity of site plans and other related documents before parting with their money.”
The Trust, through its community structures, has over the years observed the accelerated parceling
out of stands illegally.
Of late, council and state land like wetlands has been parcelled out under controversial circumstances inconsistent with the
provisions of the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act (Chapter 29.12), Urban Councils Act
(Chapter 29.15), Environment Management Act (Chapter 20.27) and council by laws and regulations, the Trust said.
Investigations show that the wetland invasions are occupied by residents mostly led by elected government officials, the land barons and council
‘bureaucrats’.
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