Pamela T Munyoro.
At least 190 illegal houses were demolished yesterday by Harare City Council in Budiriro 4 and 5.
The police arrested Caleb Kadye on charges of issuing out residential stands on Tembwe Housing Cooperative land in Budiriro.
Most families were heavily affected and left stranded with nowhere to go. Their properties rained on as there was no safe place to hide or to secure their valuables.
Another family watched their house being pulled by the bulldozer while taking shelter with their babies in their car.
Majority of the families in this area had settled there for almost 8-10 years and all of sudden the Council comes and demolishes their homes with no explanations.
Meanwhile, critics are questioning why these people were left to settle in this illegal space if it demolitions were to come, something was supposed to be done in helping them see that they have been scammed than waiting for 10 years later.
A handful of defiant householders were seen trying to stand in front of a council bulldozer in an attempt to block it from demolishing their properties, but to no avail.
However, the land scams have led to the arrests of the city’s top officials including successive mayors Herbert Gomba, Jacob Mafume, town clerk Hosiah Chisango, housing director Addmore Nhekairo and principal housing officer Edgar Dzehonye.
With the officials in prison, we hope scams like these will not have to be experienced by anyone and everyone is advised to follow the respectful way of buying residential stands before wasting 10 years of life.
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