Members of the Reformed Church recently hired a grader to destroy vegetable gardens belonging to local residents who have been using the land over the past two decades to grow vegetables for sale. The land has been sold to the church.
The church gave the urban farmers a few days’ notice and
did not seek or obtain a court order, which would have been required if a
structure rather than a crop was being uprooted. Congregants led by Mr Matthew
Mutimhodyo said they bought the land from Harare City Council.
Affected residents said they had been growing crops on the
land for the past two decades, earning a living from selling the produce. They
reported the church’s action to Warren Park Police. Some of the affected
residents who spoke to The Herald said the church was being insensitive
especially at a time when most people were trying to make ends meet in the
midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mrs Alice Mopondamali, who is one of the senior citizens in
the suburb, said it was unfortunate that the church was at the forefront of
promoting the suffering of innocent people.
“We are very disappointed over what the church is doing.
They came here and gave us short notice
to clear our vegetables.
In a few days, they came back with a front-end loader to
clear our vegetables, which are our source of livelihood. We are trying to deal
with the effects of Covid-19 and we don’t have money to buy meat. We are
devastated,” said Mrs Mupondamali.
The same land is purported to be part of Rugare Housing Pay
Scheme and is the subject of court proceedings after residents opposed its
change of use and transfer to a housing scheme approached the High Court
challenging the change in land use by the Harare City Council to facilitate
housing development on the stand. The residents, through their lawyers
Mapondera and Company Legal Practitioners, are seeking an interdict to stop the
housing development. Residents are demanding the cancellation of the permit issued
by the City of Harare to Rugare Housing Pay Scheme saying the process was done
without following procedures.
“The plaintiffs’ claim is for an order nullifying the
change of use of stands of Rugare Township, Harare, for having been
unprocedurally and unlawfully approved,” reads part of the application. Zanu PF
shadow Member for Parliament for Southerton constituency, under which Rugare
falls, Cde Andrew Makahamadze, condemned the church’s action saying the
ownership of the piece of land was in dispute, exposing the rot within the City
of Harare.
“I strongly condemn the way the church handled the issue. I
sought the views of various law experts and they all agreed that the church had
taken the law into its hands,” said Cde Makakhamadze. Herald
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