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Owning a house or a housing stand in urban centres will remain a pipe dream for the majority of Zimbabweans despite the advent of housing co-operatives

Lloyd Gumbo Mr Speaker, Sir
Driving through some of what used to be open spaces in high-density suburbs, one is greeted by imposing billboards inscribed so-and-so housing co-operative with some squalid structures that they call home.

The legality of such housing co-operatives has been challenged on several occasions, sometimes resulting in fights that have left some without teeth.

Land barons in the form of private developers have also taken over all the prime land in major cities at nominal prices yet charge an arm and a leg when they sell the same piece of land.

The basic principle of economics is that where demand is high and supply is low, prices inevitably go up, often exorbitantly.

As things stand, owning a house or a housing stand in urban centres will remain a pipedream for the majority of Zimbabweans despite the introduction of housing co-operatives that were expected to ease the accommodation crisis especially after the country gained independence.

Mr Speaker Sir, housing is a basic requirement for all and sundry. As such, it requires everyone’s attention and sincerity in dealing with the subject.

In goodwill, Government believed buying a house was not the only living arrangement available, as such, housing co-operatives were introduced to cater especially for low-income earners.

Land developers have not made it any better.

Urban centres, especially the capital city of Harare, have ceased to belong to the local authorities.

Sharks have taken over the city as they effectively “own” Harare now.

Most of the land now belongs to individuals or private companies for them to make money than to provide housing.

Harare City Council appears unfazed as long as they get their share and continue to dish out land to private developers and the so-called housing co-operatives.

Mr Speaker Sir, it is clear that housing co-operatives and private land developers have failed to live to their mandate as the housing gap has continued to expand due to the exorbitant prices being charged.

It is one thing to have shelter in the rural areas (at least for one to have a decent burial after this not so rosy a journey on earth) but another to have one in urban areas to cushion one in retirement. What has become shocking is the serious abdication of duty by local authorities in parcelling out land for the development of housing projects to individuals and groups of people leaving the public at the mercy of the Mabambas, the Mutodis, the Musindos and others of this world.

Not that those who are selling land, or who have taken the initiative to do so, are wrong, but it is a mammoth task which , if left to the will and whims of individuals, is prone to serious abuse and arm-twisting.

It is in this respect that every town council should have specialised personnel in rural and urban planning, urban growth, urban expansion, projections on density and many other areas that affect our livelihoods.

Why have city councils all of a sudden decided to throw in the towel and leave the communities and families at the mercy of land sharks and barons?

Mr Speaker Sir, I raise this pertinent question because you preside over about 350 parliamentarians who represent the whole of Zimbabwe, chosen for their ability to stand up for the people’s constitutional rights.

Every five years we are called by the supreme law of the land and our conscience as a nation to elect representatives of the people to the august House.

We are acutely aware that not all of us can come to Parliament to air our grievances. It is again in the same spirit that we ask you to urge our parliamentarians to look into this issue with the urgency and seriousness that it deserves lest we fall into the folly of procrastination when Rome is burning.

Is it not true that even in rural areas, people are buying stands at growth points, developing and building very good houses to protect themselves from the sun and other unfavourable weather conditions that have become a norm due to our reckless management of the environment?

Is it not a dream for every man or woman to have his or her name on statutory Bills?

Why are we killing this dream?

There is need for a paradigm shift in dealing with the issue of housing because at the moment secrecy shrouds the creation of these co-operatives while private land developers’ authenticity leaves a lot to be desired.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works and National Housing needs to access the database of houses and land in all our urban areas so that we know who owns what.

There is real danger that the same people, the same sharks, run all these co-operatives and fleecing families of their hard-earned cash, all in an endeavour to own houses.

The portfolio committees should have the guts to summon the ministry and get an explanation as to why local authorities have become bystanders in this crucial stage of home ownership. Are we not creating pyramids of self-enrichment at the expense of our electorate?

Are we not going to regret in future that we let loose a situation that history will judge us harshly?

Why has owning a house suddenly become like a tooth extraction?

Food for thought.

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