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President Mugabe

Speech by His Excellency the President, Comrade R.G. Mugabe, At the National Housing Conference, Harare International Conference Centre, 13th July, 2016.

Honourable Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Comrade Saviour Kasukuwere, Honourable Minister of State for Provincial Affairs for Harare Metropolitan Province Comrade Miriam Chikukwa, Vice President Mphoko (I should have saluted you earlier), Honourable Ministers here present, members of the Diplomatic Corps, The Minister of Power, Works and Housing from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Honourable Raji Babatunde, senior Government officials here present, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It is indeed an honour for me to be invited to officiate at this important event, the National Housing Conference and Expo. The Conference comes at a time when the country is beset with a housing backlog of 1,25 million housing units, a situation which must be confronted collectively and in a robust manner, by all stakeholders concerned. This requires that we put our heads together, pull in one direction and leverage resources from Government, private sector, civil society, universities and colleges, housing finance institutions, professional bodies, international agencies, and any other key stakeholders in the housing delivery sector.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Housing provision is the world over, an engine for economic growth, which serves as barometer of any nation’s level of economic growth and development. It goes without saying that when this sector performs, all the other downstream sectors also flourish. The sector creates employment for those who are into construction, in as much as it promotes small and medium enterprises, the main suppliers of building materials.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I challenge and implore all of us here today to perceive the housing backlog as an opportunity rather than a problem. Indeed, we cannot haplessly watch this backlog balloon, without taking the requisite corrective action. The solution lies with all of us.

I also regard the housing backlog as an investment opportunity. The houses that are yet to be developed are a clear demonstration of the demand for housing in this country. There lies a readily available market which has for long, remained untapped by local and foreign investors.

My Government plays a facilitatory role in housing provision by availing suitable land for development to the ministry of Land and Rural Resettlement. At present, farms around the Nyatsime area have been availed to the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing for urban expansion.

I would like to commend the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, for mooting the idea of decongesting the conventional cities and towns, by creating stand-alone and self-contained new towns. I am reliably informed that plans are afoot to pilot the concept at Chishawasha B in Harare, Nyatsime area in Manyame Rural District Council, Knock Mallock in Norton and Umvutsha in Bulawayo. These schemes indeed require bulk off-site infrastructure which presents investment opportunities, in addition to on-site infrastructure and actual housing construction.

Government is also making efforts to identify and acquire additional land for urban expansion. Since land is a finite resource, it is crucial for us to explore attendant ways of curbing urban sprawl, by adopting high rise buildings which accommodate greater population densities.

Ladies and Gentleman,

The principles of Ease-of Doing-Business should cut across all sectors, including housing infrastructure delivery. To that end, all the bottlenecks in the housing delivery processes should be removed forthwith. Instead, we should bring together experts from Government, Local Authorities, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (zesa), and Environmental Managements Agency (EMA), and any other critical stakeholders, this would expedite the planning processes, thereby cutting on bureaucratic red-tape.

Ladies and Gentleman,

My Government needs to find immediate solutions to the mushrooming of informal settlements in major urban centres across the country, with the worst scourge rearing its ugly head within Harare Metropolitan Province. In the recent past, the country has witnessed development of informal settlements, the bulk of which have been on undesignated land or such land delineated for other purposes.

Such settlements, which lack the requisite water and sanitation facilities, are a potential health hazard, often resulting in the outbreak of diseases such as cholera and typhoid. I urge the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to tighten the screws and put an end to this scourge forthwith. People who require land should follow the proper procedures in acquiring housing stands from the relevant authorities.

In conclusion, I would like to appreciate and acknowledge the organisers of this conference. It is my wish that, as we deliberate housing issues, we do so pursuing models that are in the best interest of our people. At the end of the conference, we should come up with sound resolutions that measure up to expectations of our citizenry.

Ladies and gentlemen, with these remarks, allow me to declare this National Housing Conference and Expo, officially open.

I thank you.