By Correspondent
Residents of Eastview have accused their development committee and the land developer of corruption after demands for money to tar their roads.
The Eastview Area Development Committee in conjunction with Tongoville Park Housing Cooperative have demanded payments beginning this month.
“We advise that the development of all our major roads to tar level in all these phases has commenced.
“This development is stand based where each stand should contribute towards such developments financially.
“The committee has pegged the amounts required per stand, per month as follows 200m2 to 399m2 $20 per month and 400m2 to 1000m2 plus $40 per month.
“These payments are paid direct to the developer’s offices at Tongoville Grounds.
However, what has irked the residents most are the conditions around non-payment.
Controversial Threats
According to the Committee those who fail to pay will lose their stands.
“Any stand that fails to make such payments shall be attached to the developer.
“(This is) as both surety and collateral to the developer and the developer will be at liberty to sell such stands to recover his costs.
“Also note that the payments to the developer commenced on the 4th of November 2025.
“This shall be for the duration until all roads are complete.
This open ended arrangement where residents have to pay until completion of the project has also raised questions.
One Tawanda Njuga daid the arrangement is clearly illegal.
“This is clearly illegal.
“Roads, plumbing and other essential services should be standardised before any settlements.
“Because the government is now enforcing laws for developers, they now want to pass the buck to the stand owners of which roads should have been developed or in process off, before stands were sold.
“No-one should pay these imposed fines,” he said.
A Local Government expert Dereck Tapfuma also added on the illegal aspect.
“The committee’s levy is illegal (government confirmed it violates the Co-operative Societies Act by charging non-members).
“The notice covertly makes voluntary infrastructure contributions a condition for retaining land ownership.
“The threat of forfeiture to a “developer” bypasses the Act and ignores that most Eastview Phase 19–21 residents hold individual Ministry of Lands offer letters/agreements of sale.
“In practice, no private committee or developer can repossess a government-issued stand for non-payment of a special levy.
“Only the State, through due process, can cancel title, and rarely for this reason.
Land developers have been accused of continuously fleecing desperate land owners.
Pressure for housing has created a fertile market for corrupt land developers.
Harare is currently saddled with a housing backlog of over 1.5 million.
