By Correspondent
Harare City Council says it is not selling any stands in Harare and any purported deals are by bogus swindlers.
The revelations follows allegations of council stands being sold in areas such as Bloomingdale, Westlea and Highlands.
In a statement the Town Clerk Mabhena Moyo said homeseekers were likely to lose money to corrupt individuals lying about council.
“We would like to advise all home seekers that we are not selling any residential stands in Harare and we did not contract any agents to sell land on our behalf.
“Council has received several reports of land sales in Highlands, Bloomingdale, Westlea, Glaudina and Belvedere townships by bogus agents who are purporting to be working in conjunction with the City.
“The city does not have such agreements in place with any person or agent hence any home seekers dealing with the bogus agents risk losing their hard earned cash,” he said.
The issue of fake stand sellers has been rife in Harare as pressure for housing continues to increase.
In January Harare Province Secretary for Devolution, Tafadzwa Muguti, said there are some council officials were corruptly issuing land offers.
“It must be understood by now that just because someone has papers from the council does not mean that everything is legally in good standing.
“The majority of illegal developments in Harare and Chitungwiza have council papers which mostly were processed fraudulently.
“The real mess is the council officials who are corruptly issuing land offers.
“We will not tolerate such conduct as government”, he said.
Housing Backlog
Thousands of Harare residents have lost their entire savings after being duped by land barons with supposedly genuine council papers.
Zimbabwe’s government has since announced a $377 million project to deal with a housing shortage by constructing affordable homes before next year’s election.
Critics however note such promises often come ahead of elections and that many Zimbabweans have been on a housing waiting list for more than a decade.
The country currently has a housing backlog of over 1.5 million.
Leave a Reply