By Correspondent
Illegal houses built in the Gimboki area of Dangamvura were last week demolished by Mutare Council.
This was an initiative by the Local Authority seeking to restore sanity in the area.
The decision is only the latest in the crazed confusion that Gimboki has become.
Government has spoken about regularising the area into a formal settlement with order.
NDS1 Project
It was an indication of the Government’s commitment to restore sanity at the settlement.
Various land developers were invited and offered an opportunity to craft plans to create order in Gimboki.
“The Gimboki Housing Scheme is a dysfunctional settlement.
“(There is) no water or electricity supply, no sewerage system or roads,” the District Development Coordinator Edgar Seenza said.
“The Government is in the process of regularising the suburb.
“A well established suburb must come out of Gimboki.
“Developers were invited to assess the situation first hand and come up with a plan to fix this housing mess.
Little Progress
However, 4 years later Mutare Council has had to resort to the traditional tactics of demolitions.
There has been no order brought to Gimboki as more and more illegal settlements proliferate.
Mutare, through their attorney, Mr Passmore Nyakureba sought the aid of the Joint Operations Committee (JOC) in executing the court order.
“Our client has issued an order to illegal occupants unlawfully occupying municipal land in Gimboki South.
“This order must be complied with within 24 hours of receipt by the unidentified occupants in compliance with the provisions of the law.
In 2023 Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Advocate Misheck Mugadza raised a red flag over the illegal parcelling out of residential stands in Gimboki.
“I want to inform those who claim to have been allocated residential stands in Gimboki that the area belongs to either Mutare City Council or the State.
“The stands can only be allocated if the land has been properly gazetted with the blessing of President Mnangagwa,” Mugadza.
However, since then land barons have continued parcelling out residential stands even in reserved areas.
While Mutare’s latest move is a desperate attempt to restore order, it’s an indictment of how the Gimboki project is failing.
