The Denial That Insults The Wounded, Dishonours The President, And Shames The Nation
By Dr Masimba Mavaza
There comes a moment in the life of every nation when a lie becomes more cruel than the crime itself. The bulldozer is cruel. But the denial is crueller. The demolition breaks a house. The denial breaks a heart.
And this week, the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Daniel Garwe, stood before the nation — a whole grown man, a whole Minister, a whole custodian of the people’s trust — and said there have been no demolitions in Zimbabwe. He said the demolitions were only on social media.
He accused people of having hidden agendas. He accused the press of lying. He accused the victims of inventing their own suffering.
Minister, let the revolution answer you: *If there were no demolitions, whose houses were we watching fall? Whose mothers were we watching scream? Whose children were we watching sleep in the rain?*
Was Methro Masunga lying? Was Al Jazeera lying? Was the camera lying? Was the rubble lying?
This is not a mistake. This is not a misstatement. This is a very irresponsible denial by a whole Minister. It is such intelligence — or absence of it — which puts the name of the President in disrepute.
Because the President did not send you to lie to his people. The President sent you to serve his people.
The Man Who Ordered Demolitions Now Denies Demolitions
Let us put the record straight, because history does not forget, even if a Minister tries to make it forget.
This is the same Minister Garwe who has, for years, been the loudest voice for demolitions in Zimbabwe.
*1. Gweru, February 2021 — “Houses Built On Wetlands To Be Demolished”*
As Minister of National Housing, Garwe toured Gweru and declared:
> “All illegal structures built on wetlands and riverbanks should be demolished while the local authorities and private developers found liable should compensate affected homeowners.”
He said before demolitions start, Government will look for alternative land. He said people on wetlands should be moved. He said Government had no apologies to make. He was the face of demolition then. He is the face of denial now.
2. Harare South, Waterfalls — “Houses Are Not Going To Be Spared
Speaking to builders in Harare, Garwe said:
“All houses built on illegally allocated public land will also be demolished… Houses built on wetlands and open spaces zoned for recreation, along with informal structures built on land reserved for social amenities, are to be targeted… These houses are not going to be spared from demolitions.”
Not spared. His words. Not ours.
3. Harare, September 2026 — “We Will Now Come And Remove People
Touring Kamfinsa and PaClide shops, where Operation Chenesa Harare was underway, Garwe vowed to sustain the clean-up. He said:
“We are not going to change, we are not going to look at anyone’s face, we are not going to apologise to anybody. We must clean our cities.”
“We wanted to remove rubbish first, which we are doing. We will now come and remove people. They must go back to their homes. Even those that are here, that are wandering here, they will be removed.”
Read that again. *We will now come and remove people.*
That is not a social media rumour. That is a Minister on camera, on record, in The Herald, threatening to remove people like rubbish.
4. Harare, August 2026 — “5,000 Demolition Orders
At a high-level stakeholder breakfast meeting on land tenure in Harare, Garwe himself announced:
“Currently, City of Harare is sitting on 5,000 demolition orders and in some cases we have tried to delay the process and provide solutions.”
Council spokesperson Stanley Gama confirmed: “All areas mentioned in the document are earmarked for demolition. All structures without council approvals and built on areas earmarked for social amenities or built on top of our water or sewer infrastructure will be demolished.”
Mayor Jacob Mafume said: “We will demolish all those illegal structures.”
A council task force had inspected 22,255 sites. Council records listed more than 5,000 houses facing demolition under 37 outstanding High Court orders.
Garwe knew. Garwe announced it. Garwe presided over it.
5. Operation Chenesa, November 2026 — “16,529 Structures Dismantled”
And then, on Wednesday this week, the same Garwe stood before the press and boasted of Operation Chenesa’s success:
“A cumulative 35,365 illegal businesses and activities have been impacted countrywide… Some 16,529 illegal structures have been systematically dismantled and removed from unauthorized zones.”
“1,446 people have been arrested… US$118,553 and R1,000 in fines collected.”
“Operation Chenesa is an unyielding, non-negotiable instrument of good governance.”
Minister, answer this revolutionary question, and answer it honestly:
If Operation Chenesa was a demolition process, whose houses were they demolishing?
If 16,529 structures were “systematically dismantled and removed,” what were those structures? Were they castles in the air? Were they houses on the moon? Were they social media houses?
They were Zimbabwean houses. They were Zimbabwean tuckshops. They were Zimbabwean stalls. They were Zimbabwean homes.
You cannot in one breath boast that you dismantled 16,529 structures, and in the next breath say there were no demolitions. You cannot count demolitions like trophies, and then deny demolitions like a coward.
That is not governance. That is confusion. That is a man blaming the press for the rubble he created.
The Suffering He Presided Over
Garwe presided on the suffering of Zimbabweans when him and Muguti, his sacked Permanent Secretary, authorised demolitions.
Let us name the suffering, because Garwe wants to erase it.
At around 5am on Friday, 14 August, Methro Masunga, 28, a mother of three, was jolted awake by bulldozers and shouting municipal police in St Martins Extension, Harare. She had begun paying for her stand since 2015. She received her allocation in 2019. She built, brick by brick, with money earned by her own hands. Her home was demolished.
Memory Chengeta’s house was also demolished. He now lives in a makeshift cabin built on the ruins of his own home, like a refugee in his own country.
In Stoneridge, Harare South, demolitions in June left scores of families homeless on disputed private land. In Gilstone Farm, Seke, settlers were given seven days to leave, then their homes were pulled down. In Murombedzi, Zvimba, footage showed rural houses being pulled down. In Mwenezi, in Rutenga, in Mazowe, bulldozers reached.
And in Harare, homeowners were told to pay penalties and the full value of their land or, if they miss a 9 November deadline, to pay the cost of their own demolition.
Imagine that cruelty. Imagine being told: Pay us, or pay for your own destruction.
These are not social media houses. These are real houses, with real roofs, real doors, real beds, real school uniforms, real birth certificates, real photographs of dead grandmothers — all turned to dust.
And now, in these rains, with El Niño coming, with thunder and lightning and floods, those families are suffering in the streets. Mothers are covering children with plastic sheets. Fathers are sitting on broken bricks, watching the rain wash away what is left of their lives. Children are coughing in the cold. Old women are sleeping in the open, because the government that was supposed to protect them destroyed their shelter.
When people suffer in the streets in these rains, a mere denial and a threat helps no one.
A threat helps no one. A denial helps no one. A lie helps no one.
What helps is truth. What helps is apology. What helps is an alternative.
When A Government Demolishes, It Must Provide An Alternative
This is not revolutionary theory. This is law. This is morality. This is humanity.
Section 74 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe is clear: No person may be evicted from their home, or have their home demolished, without an order of court made after considering all relevant circumstances.
The National Human Settlements Policy is clear: Alternative accommodation must be prepared before relocations and demolitions.
Garwe himself once knew this. In Gweru in 2021, he said: “Before the demolitions start, the Government will look for alternative land to relocate those affected.”
Where did that Garwe go? Where did that wisdom go?
When a government demolishes dwelling places, it must provide an alternative. It is the duty of the government to look after its people and victims of these land barons. It is not the duty of the government to punish the victims of land barons. The land barons are the criminals. The council officials who sold stands are the criminals. The town planners who helped illegal subdivisions are the criminals — Garwe himself accused them.
Then why punish the mother? Why demolish the house? Why arrest 1,446 vendors?
Arrest the land baron. Arrest the corrupt official. Prosecute the sabhuku who sold the stand. Compensate the victim. Give her a new stand. Give her dignity.
A government that destroys first and builds later is not a government of the people. It is a government against the people.
Garwe now says, “Focus is now on the provision of vending sites in all the 2,500 wards countrywide.”
Now? After you have destroyed? After you have demolished? After you have arrested?
Why not first? Why not build first, then move people? Why not provide, then enforce?
Build first. Provide first. Love first. Then enforce.
That is the order of a humane government.
The President Stopped It — And That Is The Truth Garwe Cannot Deny
It is an open secret that it was the President who stopped these demolitions. He ordered Garwe to stop and he fired Muguti.
On Wednesday, 11 November 2026, President Emmerson Mnangagwa replaced Permanent Secretary Tafadzwa Muguti, barely two months after appointing him, with Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa, with immediate effect, in terms of Section 205(1) of the Constitution.
The official statement gave no reason. But the timing speaks. The timing shouts. The timing screams.
Muguti’s departure came amid growing concern over the ministry’s handling of demolitions across the country, which have attracted widespread criticism and been described as merciless and anti-people.
The President acted. The President corrected. The President stopped the bleeding.
Garwe is now behaving like a confused man, blaming the press, blaming social media, blaming people with hidden agendas, blaming everyone except himself.
But the people know. The people see. The people understand: The President will never have agreed to this nonsense, and he did not agree. That is why he stopped it now.
The President of Zimbabwe rides on the mantra: “Leaving No One Behind.”
Leaving no one behind. Not leaving mothers behind in the rubble. Not leaving children behind in the rain. Not leaving fathers behind on broken bricks. Not leaving the poor behind while the rich build in Borrowdale.
A President who says “leaving no one behind” can never demolish a house without having a place for the victims to stay. He can never destroy a home without building an alternative. He can never make his own people homeless and call it development.
That mantra is not a slogan. It is a covenant. It is a promise to the poorest Zimbabwean that the State will not abandon him.
Garwe’s demolitions abandoned them. The President’s intervention saved them.
Garwe must understand: He is not bigger than the President’s mantra. He is not bigger than the Constitution. He is not bigger than the people.
Integrity Is Measured Through Shame, Self-Respect, Apology And Change
This is the revolutionary lesson Garwe must learn.
Integrity is not measured by how loudly you deny. Integrity is not measured by how fiercely you threaten. Integrity is not measured by how many structures you dismantle.
Integrity is measured through shame, self-respect, apology and change.
Shame: A man who has caused suffering must feel shame. He must look at Methro Masunga sitting on rubble, and feel shame. He must look at a child sleeping in the rain, and feel shame. He must look at a father collapsing, and feel shame. Shame is not weakness. Shame is humanity. A leader without shame is a leader without a soul.
Self-Respect: A man who respects himself does not lie to his own people. He does not say “there were no demolitions” when the whole nation watched demolitions. He does not blame the press for his own bulldozers. Self-respect means: I will tell the truth, even when the truth hurts me.
Apology: It was going to be noble for Garwe to say: “People, I made a wrong decision. The President has corrected me. We now stop demolitions. We are actually building alternatives.”
How noble would that have been? How revolutionary would that have been? How human would that have been?
One sentence: “I was wrong.” One sentence: “I am sorry.” One sentence: “Forgive me.”
That sentence would have healed a nation. That sentence would have restored trust. That sentence would have made Garwe a hero, not a villain.
Instead, he chose denial. Instead, he chose threats. Instead, he chose to say, “We are not going to apologise to anybody.”
A Minister who says “we are not going to apologise to anybody” has lost his humanity. A Minister who refuses to apologise to a mother whose house he destroyed has lost his right to lead.
Change: Apology without change is theatre. Change without apology is arrogance. True integrity is: I apologise, and I change.
Stop demolitions. Build alternatives. Regularise stands. Prosecute land barons. Compensate victims. Provide vending sites with water and toilets in all 2,500 wards — not as a promise, but as a reality. Provide houses. Provide dignity.
That is change. That is revolution. That is leadership.
A Call To Garwe — Lift Up Your Hand
So we say to Minister Garwe, not with hatred, but with revolutionary love, with the love of a people who want their Minister to be better:
Minister, it is human enough to lift up your hand and say: “I made a wrong judgement call and I have been corrected.”
It is human enough to say: “I was wrong.”
It is human enough to say: “The President has corrected me, and I thank him for correcting me.”
It is human enough to say: “To the mothers, to the children, to the fathers I hurt — I am sorry.”
Do not blame the press. The press did not bring bulldozers. Do not blame social media. Social media did not demolish houses. Do not blame people with hidden agendas. The only hidden agenda here is the agenda to hide the truth.
The press showed the rubble because the rubble was real. Social media showed the screaming mothers because the mothers were really screaming. The people spoke because they were really suffering.
Lift up your hand, Minister. Admit. Apologise. Change.
The President has already shown the way. He stopped the demolitions. He fired the Permanent Secretary. He protected his mantra: Leaving No One Behind.
Now follow him. Follow the President. Follow the Constitution. Follow the people.
Stop demolitions. Start building. Start healing. Start loving your own people.
Because when history writes this chapter, it will not remember how many structures you dismantled. It will remember whether you had the shame to feel, the self-respect to tell the truth, the courage to apologise, and the wisdom to change.
And if you do not, history will remember you as the Minister who presided over suffering, and then denied that suffering ever happened.
And that is a shame no press conference can erase.
*Stop denying. Start apologising. Start building.*
*Leaving No One Behind — Means No One. Not Even The Poor. Not Even The Vendor. Not Even The Mother In St Martins.*
*By Dr Masimba Mavaza*
_Note: The official statement announcing the replacement of Permanent Secretary Tafadzwa Muguti on 11 November 2026 gave no official reason for the change. This article reflects the widely held public perception, and the author’s interpretation, that the change was linked to the handling of demolitions, and that President Mnangagwa intervened to halt them. Minister Garwe has publicly stated that Government has not demolished homes, that demolitions are a matter for Council under court orders, and that Operation Chenesa is focused on illegal structures and vending, not residential homes. The quotations attributed to Minister Garwe in this article are drawn from published reports in The Herald, NewsDay, NewZimbabwe and other outlets cited above._
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