Posted on 07/05/2002 11:16:00 AM PDT by Clive
GOVERNMENT is believed to be planning an amendment to the Land Acquisition Act which would give it powers to grab private land in urban areas for redistribution without the obligation to immediately compensate property owners.
The proposed amendment tothe Act seeks to legitimise mushrooming illegal settlements controlled by Zanu PF officials and war veterans within the city limits. The most recent example is Carrick Creagh estate in Borrowdale which is being illegally partitioned into residential plots.
Estate agents this week said the illegal settlements threatened property rights as housing co-operatives with certificates from the Ministry of Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation were targeting vacant private land.
Illegal settlements such as Whitecliffe along the Bulawayo Road and Sally Mugabe Heights in Borrowdale are going ahead although they have not been sanctioned by the Harare City Council. There are other illegal settlements in Kambuzuma and on Retreat Farm along Seke Road.
Government sources this week said government would soon introduce legislation to amend Section 3 of the Land Acquisition Act that affects urban land.
The section presently compels government to pay for land so acquired. The amendment will allow the government to acquire private land in urban areas on a similar basis to that obtaining for rural land or land outside city boundaries.
The sources said Harare council's planning department in Cleveland House had been instructed by government to withhold approval of subdivision applications for some 15 properties within the Greater Harare area until the new legislative framework is in place.
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa yesterday said the Cabinet Action Committee on Legislation had not yet considered legislation regarding the acquisition of urban land.
"But that doesn't stop the Minister of Lands from coming up with such legislation which will still need to come to the Cabinet Action Committee on Legislation," said Chinamasa.
A recent advertisement in the press invited tenders for civil works at the Sally Mugabe Heights housing scheme on Carrick Creagh Farm close to Borrowdale Brooke. The land that this group is selling is actually private land, and being urban land does not qualify for land acquisition as set out in Section 8 of the Land Acquisition Act. The property owners got a court order last year which declared that the occupation of the property was illegal.
Half-acre stands in the prime residential area are being sold by war veterans at a give-away price of $115 000 plus $4 043 levied as an administration fee. The Zimbabwe Independent this week visited the office of the sellers on the fourth floor of Memorial Building in Samora Machel Avenue in central Harare and found dozens of people making inquiries about the stands. Stands in the area are generally valued at $1 200 per square metre, which puts the value of a half-acre plot at about $2,4 million.
People who have bought stands on the 330ha Carrick Creagh estate were told last Saturday that they have to begin building by the end of this month or their land will be repossessed and resold. Bricks and other building materials have already started arriving at the illegal settlement, which is surrounded by upmarket homes.
In a telephone interview from Germany last week, Harare executive mayor Elias Mudzuri said the continued invasion and ongoing building on the privately-owned land threatened the status of all home-owners in Harare.
"Everyone who owns a property in Harare is threatened by this," Mudzuri said.
He said the municipality could not provide water to an illegal township, even if it had the money to do so. He confirmed the new "owners" of stands could not obtain title deeds as the property was owned by the Newmarch family.
The saga of Carrick Creagh farm began on May 13 2000, when war veterans, calling themselves the Harare East Housing Scheme, marched onto the farm owned by the Newmarch family. The war veterans were organised by Stalin Mau Mau who lost the Harare East parliamentary seat to Tendai Biti of the MDC in the 2000 election.
In a hearing in judges' chambers last year, in a case brought by Andrew Newmarch against Mau Mau and two others, the High Court ordered the illegal settlers to leave the farm forthwith.
At a recent meeting of prospective buyers at the farm, a Cde Harare told the buyers that Minister Ignatius Chombo was working on details such as title deeds and other processes to allow for servicing by the Harare municipality. He said most of the stands on Carrick Creagh had already been paid for.
Possibly, but I also smell a scam.
Confiscate land near a city and subdivide it as building lots. Politicians pocket the proceeds.
Needs an amendment to the statute to allow the land to be taken out of the agrarian sector under some sort of colour of right.
What's had in USDs now, $15?
This was up from Z$800.00 a fortnight ago and $400.00 a month ago.
The official exchange rate is Z$55.75 to UD$1.00 (pure fiction).
BTW, I was in a shopping mall in Toronto today and for curiosity, I stopped at the Thomas Cook exchange booth to ask the price of Zim dollars. I was told that they were not being traded in Canada under any circumstances.
I suspect that soon the farmers will be paid off in worthless Zim dollars and the government will publicly claim that they bought the land for value, citing the fictional official exchange rate.
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