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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
The Infrastructure and Cities for Economic Development (ICED) organisation has called on central government to act on issues of increased land barons in towns and cities whom they accuse of stalling development. The ICED is a member of the international slum dwellers association. In an interview on the sidelines of the United Nations conference on housing and sustainable development (Habitat III), held in the Ecuidorian capital Quito recently, the ICED expert advisor, Mrs Beth Chitekwe-Biti, said the mushrooming of informal settlements and the rise in land barons in Zimbabwe needed an urgent political solution.

“It is important for the Government to formulate local governance policies, which are progressive and deterrent enough to put an end to the issue of people holding on to land for speculative purposes.

“You will note that in Zimbabwe, there are people who have taken advantage of poor urban planning and they have amassed huge tracts of prime land, which is virtually inaccessible to the poor.

“Some of these people are politically connected, and it will take a political decision to solve this matrix,” she said. Mrs Chitekwe-Biti said as long as there was poor planning in urban cities, the problem of land shortage and the rise in informal settlements would be a perennial headache for local authorities.

She said it was important for the Government to plan ahead of the anticipated cities and towns’ growth, to avoid creating opportunities for unscrupulous land dealers. City fathers have failed to attend to the issues of housing in line with trend of rural-to-urban migration, and this has given rise to crooks and fraudsters.

“We are calling on the central government to act on this matter before it goes out of hand. We need to shift focus to building more compact cities. Let’s build up, instead of spreading spaciously,” she said.

Mrs Chitekwe-Biti said it was also important for Government to play a leading role in creating synergies with multi-pronged sectors for the successful implementation of the new UN urban agenda.

The new order seeks to make urban centres habitable, resilient, safe and inclusive. According to the UN, cities are facing unprecedented demographic, environmental, economic, social and spatial challenges.

Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation National coordinator Mrs Sekai Chiremba said land barons had taken over spaces reserved for key social amenities such as schools and clinics and others.

“We are worried at the rate at which some people are profiteering from land, and have caused prices of properties in urban centres to shoot up at an alarming rate. “Government should engage with multi-stakeholders to resolve this contentious issue if the new urban agenda is to become a great success story,” said Mrs Chiremba.