Saturday, 5 April 2025

NEW HRE CITY : ONLY FIVE FARMERS FULLY COMPENSATED

The Government has begun compensating over 300 farmers whose land was repossessed for the development of the new city in Mt Hampden, with five having already received full payments, while the remaining group will be paid in the coming months.

The 301 farmers from Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central owned 47 farms covering more than 15 500 hectares (ha).

The land is expected to accommodate over 1,5 million residents once the new city is completed.

The compensation process involved two main criteria for land evaluation — farmers who owned private land and had title deeds and those resettled during the Land Reform Programme — to ensure fair compensation.

Treasury prioritised compensation for farmers whose land was affected by the hosting of the 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government in August last year.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Professor Obert Jiri said a compensation committee recently approved monetary compensation for the remaining farmers.

“We have already compensated five of the farmers,” Prof Jiri said.

“The compensation committee recently met and approved compensation for a big number of the farmers and we are now left with only a handful of farmers that we are still negotiating with in terms of the compensation.

“There were two types of farmers that were settled at the area: the first type is that of farmers that owned the farms and had title deeds.

“ These ones were not affected by the land reform and hence during compensation, the Government compensated evaluations and the land as well.

“Then we have another type of farmers who were resettled during the land reform; these ones will only be compensated for the land improvements.”

Chief director (spatial and planning) in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works Dr Shingirayi Mushamba said the land had since been transferred to the ministry.

“When the farmers were given withdrawal letters, the land was transferred to the Local Government and development started years ago,” Dr Mushamba said.

An inter-ministerial committee comprising the Ministries of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development; Local Government and Public Works; and National Housing and Social Amenities has been set up to facilitate the relocation of about 300 families to make way for the project.The concept for the new city was approved by Cabinet in December 2018, with the opening of the new Parliament building helping to catalyse development.

The multi-billion-dollar metropolis in Mt Hampden, which is anticipated to decongest Harare’s current central business district, will straddle 15 500ha and accommodate more than 1,5 million residents on completion, according to the city’s master plan that was approved by Cabinet.

Three local authorities — Harare Municipality, as well as Mazowe and Zvimba rural district councils — will administer the city, which is set to be named after one of the country’s cultural and heritage endowments.

It is envisaged that the city will be developed in four distinct phases spanning 10 years.

The first phase, which will run for two years, entails the creation of traction and development infrastructure.

It is expected to be funded through Treasury and “donations from the private sector and other partners”, according to the blueprint.

Phase two will involve development of baseline infrastructure through funding from Treasury, public-private partnerships (PPPs), loans and issuance of bonds, debentures or bills.

The next phase, running from year five to 10, will witness the development of commercial, residential and industrial areas through PPPs, foreign direct investment (FDI), syndicated loans, development finance and export credit finance, among other instruments.

The final phase involves continued development of commercial, residential and industrial areas from year 10 going forward through private equity, PPPs, FDI and syndicated loans.

Dubai-based billionaire Mr Shaji Ul Mulk, who is the founder and chairperson of Mulk International Group, has begun constructing a US$500 million cyber city in Mt Hampden. Sunday Mail

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