FORMAL REPRESENTATION AND REQUEST FOR URGENT PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY
27 October 2026
To:
The Clerk of Parliament
Parliament of Zimbabwe
New Parliament Building
Mount Hampden, Zimbabwe Emil : clerk@parlzim.gov.zw
For the attention of:
The Speaker of the National Assembly
The President of the Senate
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee responsible for Local Government, Public Works and National Housing
From:
HRH Princess Eugene Majuru
Princess of Harare
Sovereign Custodian of the Mbari Clan, Royal Family of Harare
Email: harareprincess@gmail.com
Subject: Urgent request for a national parliamentary inquiry into residential demolitions, forced displacement and the increasing vulnerability of Zimbabwean families
Dear Honourable Members of Parliament,
I write to Parliament of Zimbabwe to express my profound concern regarding residential demolitions and threatened evictions affecting communities across Zimbabwe, including urban settlements, growth points, peri-urban communities and rural areas.
What is unfolding raises serious questions about housing security, land administration, constitutional protections, human dignity, poverty and the responsibilities of public institutions towards the people they govern.
I recognise that local authorities and government institutions have a lawful responsibility to regulate land use, prevent unsafe construction, protect environmentally sensitive areas and enforce planning legislation. However, the exercise of these powers must not disregard the constitutional rights, welfare and circumstances of the families affected.
A nation cannot claim to be pursuing development while allowing enforcement measures to deepen poverty and homelessness without adequate safeguards.
For many Zimbabwean families, a home represents a lifetime of savings and sacrifice. Some have spent years building their houses gradually, purchasing materials whenever their limited resources permitted. Others have obtained stands through cooperatives, developers, traditional arrangements or individuals they believed had authority to allocate land.
Where irregularities occurred, it is essential to establish who authorised the occupation, who sold the land, who received payments, what representations were made to purchasers and whether public officials or other intermediaries contributed to the situation.
It would be deeply concerning if ordinary families were left bearing the consequences while those responsible for unlawful allocations, fraudulent sales or administrative failures escaped accountability.
- Constitutional protection against arbitrary eviction
Section 74 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides protection against eviction from one’s home or demolition of one’s home without a court order made after considering all relevant circumstances.
This constitutional safeguard must be respected by every institution involved in residential demolitions.
Parliament should therefore establish whether the relevant legal procedures are being followed, whether affected households have been given meaningful opportunities to be heard and whether their individual circumstances have been considered.
The existence of an unlawful structure does not remove the obligation to comply with constitutional requirements.
- The growing danger of homelessness
One of my greatest concerns is the apparent lack of adequate accommodation arrangements for some families facing demolition.
Where are these people expected to go?
What happens to children whose homes are destroyed?
What happens to elderly people who have nowhere else to live?
What happens to families who have invested their entire savings in their properties?
What happens to people with disabilities, pregnant women, widows and households already struggling to survive?
There is also an apparent contradiction requiring urgent examination where people lose their homes through enforcement operations while other authorities seek to remove homeless people from public spaces.
If people are displaced from their homes and then prevented from remaining in public places, Parliament must ask what realistic alternatives are available to them.
The right to human dignity must remain central to public administration.
- Demolitions in growth points and rural communities
I am particularly concerned about reports and accounts of demolitions extending beyond major cities into growth points, rural settlements and other developing communities.
Such areas frequently have complicated histories of land allocation, customary occupation, changing planning boundaries and administrative arrangements involving different institutions.
Parliament should investigate whether local authorities, traditional leaders, land administrators and relevant government departments have adequately coordinated their responsibilities.
Where families have occupied land for years with the knowledge or apparent approval of local institutions, their circumstances deserve careful investigation before irreversible enforcement measures are undertaken.
This does not mean that unlawful development should be ignored. It means that the origins of the problem must be examined and responsibility established fairly.
- Request for an urgent national parliamentary inquiry
I respectfully request that Parliament initiate a national inquiry into residential demolitions, threatened evictions and displacement, covering urban, peri-urban, growth-point and rural communities.
The inquiry should examine:
- The legal authority and court orders relied upon in residential demolition operations.
- The notice periods and consultation procedures provided to affected households.
- The availability of alternative accommodation, relocation arrangements and emergency humanitarian assistance.
- The involvement of land developers, housing cooperatives, local authorities, traditional institutions and other parties in disputed land allocations.
- The financial losses suffered by affected families.
- The impact of demolitions on children, elderly residents, people with disabilities and economically vulnerable households.
- The feasibility of regularising existing settlements where development can safely and lawfully be accommodated.
- The consistency of demolition practices with constitutional requirements and Zimbabwe’s human rights obligations.
- The extent to which public officials and institutions may have contributed to irregular settlements.
- The measures required to prevent further avoidable displacement and homelessness.
- Request for urgent interim protection
While Parliament conducts its investigations, I respectfully request that it call upon the relevant authorities to consider an urgent suspension of residential demolitions where constitutional compliance, lawful process and the circumstances of affected households have not been adequately established.
Where structures pose immediate and demonstrable risks to public safety, any necessary intervention should still be conducted lawfully and with appropriate measures to protect affected people.
Demolition should not automatically be treated as the first available response where lawful regularisation, upgrading, relocation or other reasonable alternatives may exist.
- A national housing and settlement regularisation framework
Zimbabwe requires a coordinated approach to settlements that have developed outside formal planning systems.
I request that Parliament examine the need for a national framework addressing settlement audits, land-allocation transparency, infrastructure standards, regularisation, relocation and the protection of vulnerable households.
Such a framework should establish clear responsibilities for local authorities, central government departments, developers, cooperatives and other relevant institutions.
It should also provide mechanisms through which residents who have been misled or defrauded can seek redress.
The objective must be to prevent the continued cycle of irregular allocation, settlement, demolition and displacement.
- Accountability for those responsible
Parliament must also examine the accountability of individuals and institutions that facilitate unlawful land transactions.
Where residents have purchased land in good faith, it is important to investigate the conduct of those who sold or allocated the stands.
Enforcement should not focus exclusively on the visible occupants of the land while overlooking the systems and individuals that enabled the disputed developments.
Where wrongdoing is established, appropriate legal and administrative action should follow.
- Request for public hearings and participation
I further request that the relevant Parliamentary Portfolio Committee convene public hearings and invite submissions from affected residents, residents’ associations, legal practitioners, human rights organisations, local authorities, traditional leaders, housing cooperatives, urban planners and relevant government departments.
Affected families must be given an opportunity to explain their circumstances directly.
The people facing displacement should not be excluded from decisions that may fundamentally alter their lives.
- Request for a formal parliamentary response
Given the seriousness and urgency of this matter, I respectfully request:
- Written acknowledgment of this representation within seven working days.
- Confirmation of the Parliamentary Committee to which it has been referred.
- Consideration of an urgent hearing or inquiry.
- Information on any immediate parliamentary steps proposed to address threatened demolitions.
- A written response outlining the proposed way forward and anticipated timetable.
I also request that this correspondence be formally recorded and brought to the attention of the appropriate parliamentary authorities.
Conclusion
As Princess of Harare and Sovereign Custodian of the Mbari Clan, Royal Family of Harare, I consider the protection of communities, the preservation of human dignity and the responsible stewardship of land to be matters deserving serious attention.
Although my heritage responsibilities are particularly connected to Harare, the concerns raised in this letter are national.
They affect Zimbabwean families irrespective of political affiliation, social standing, ethnicity or geographical location.
I am not asking Parliament to disregard planning laws or to endorse unlawful land occupation.
I am asking Parliament to ensure that the enforcement of those laws does not result in avoidable human suffering, arbitrary displacement or the further impoverishment of vulnerable families.
A home is not merely a building. It is a place of safety, belonging and stability.
When a family loses its home, the consequences can affect generations.
Zimbabwe must find ways of enforcing the law while protecting the people the law is intended to serve.
I therefore urge Parliament to treat this matter as one of national importance and to exercise its constitutional oversight responsibilities without unnecessary delay.
I look forward to receiving a formal response.
Yours faithfully,
HRH Princess Eugene Majuru
Princess of Harare
Sovereign Custodian of the Mbari Clan, Royal Family of Harare
Email: harareprincess@gmail.com
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