By Shepherd Shalvar Chikomba
Residents are deeply concerned by the growing number of demolition notices and demolitions affecting residents in various parts of Zimbabwe.
The painful question many Zimbabweans are asking is simple:
Why is Zimbabwe always demolishing houses?
Across Africa and the world, governments are investing in housing delivery, upgrading informal settlements, expanding infrastructure, regularising communities and providing secure tenure for citizens. Yet in Zimbabwe, thousands of families wake up uncertain whether the homes they have invested their life savings into will still be standing tomorrow.
Authorities consistently advise residents to verify the legality of land before purchasing. This is a reasonable expectation and an important safeguard against fraud and illegal land transactions.
The City of Harare has maintained that structures built without approval, on wetlands, road reserves, land reserved for schools and clinics, or on top of critical sewer and water infrastructure cannot be regularised and may be demolished. The city further argues that illegal settlements place enormous pressure on public services and undermine orderly urban development.
These concerns cannot be dismissed. Environmental protection, proper planning and lawful development are essential for sustainable cities.
However, the issue extends beyond legality alone. It raises serious questions about accountability.
Consider a common scenario.
A resident purchases a stand in 2008.
They build a cottage in 2010.
They complete a family home in 2012.
They connect to available services.
They pay rates and other charges.
Their children attend nearby schools.
Roads emerge, businesses develop and an entire community grows around them.
Years later, the same resident is informed that the settlement is illegal, the land is unsuitable for development, or approvals were improperly granted.
Naturally, residents ask:
. Where were the institutions responsible for preventing such developments in the first place?
. Where are the land barons who sold the land?
. Where are the officials who approved or failed to stop the developments?
. Where are the planners, surveyors, councillors and authorities tasked with enforcing planning laws?
. Where are the developers who profited from the transactions?
. Why does accountability appear to fall almost exclusively on ordinary residents, many of whom acted in good faith?
In far too many cases, the individuals who initiated, facilitated, approved or benefited from illegal land transactions remain untouched, while homeowners, pensioners, civil servants, vendors and vulnerable families face the prospect of homelessness.
Residents are not opposed to environmental protection. They are not opposed to lawful planning. They are not opposed to preserving wetlands or protecting public infrastructure.
What residents seek is fairness.
If land was sold illegally, those responsible must be identified and prosecuted.
If approvals were granted unlawfully, responsible officials must be held accountable.
If corruption occurred, those involved must face the full force of the law.
If residents were misled, defrauded or induced to purchase land through false representations, mechanisms for protection, compensation or relocation must be considered.
The burden of correcting planning failures cannot be placed solely on innocent homebuyers who relied on representations made by developers, authorities or other actors within the land administration system.
Zimbabweans are increasingly asking how settlements can exist for years, receive services, generate rates revenue, host public activities and develop into established communities before authorities identify serious planning concerns.
By the time demolition notices are issued, every institution appears to distance itself from responsibility.
. The council did not know.
. The ministry did not know.
. The developer denies wrongdoing.
. The politician was unaware.
Yet somehow the homeowner is expected to have known what every responsible authority either failed to identify or failed to act upon for years.
This situation undermines public confidence in governance, planning systems and land administration.
It also raises important constitutional and humanitarian concerns, particularly where families face displacement, loss of investments and disruption of livelihoods.
Residents are therefore calling for:
1. Immediate transparency regarding all areas earmarked for demolition.
2. Full public disclosure of individuals and entities responsible for illegal land sales and allocations.
3. Criminal investigations and prosecution of land barons and corrupt officials involved in unlawful land transactions.
4. A fair, humane and lawful approach that protects innocent residents who purchased land in good faith.
5. National reforms to strengthen land administration, planning enforcement and environmental protection.
6. Meaningful consultation with affected communities before any demolition action is undertaken.
7. Clear accountability mechanisms for public officials who fail to enforce planning laws at the appropriate stage.
Demolitions do not only destroy buildings.
They destroy livelihoods.
They destroy investments.
They destroy community networks.
They destroy public trust.
As a nation, Zimbabwe must move towards a system where accountability begins with those who create the problem, not only with those who become its victims.
The challenge before us is not merely about illegal structures. It is about building a culture of responsibility, transparency and justice.
Residents deserve lawful cities.
They also deserve accountable governance.
Both objectives can and must be achieved together.
“Promoting accountable governance, sustainable communities and the protection of residents’ rights.”
About the Author
Shepherd Shalvar Chikomba is the National Chairman of the Zimbabwe National Organisation of Associations and Residents Trust (ZNOART), an apex body representing residents and residents’_ __associations throughout Zimbabwe.
ZNOART’s focus areas include service delivery, community development, infrastructure development, environmental protection and waste management, healthcare, gender and social welfare, transparency and_ accountability, as well as the fight against drug and substance abuse.*
_Through advocacy, civic engagement and community empowerment, ZNOART works to promote accountable governance, sustainable development and the protection of residents’ rights across Zimbabwe_