Emotions high as illegal structures are demolished

FIFTEEN home owners and traders who illegally built structures on a piece of land belonging to a private property owner in the Whitehouse area in Harare west after being deceived by a land baron, had their structures demolished  by authorities yesterday. The demolition exercise on a piece of land known as Warwick Estate measuring 829 hectares and located near Lake Chivero, was monitored by police and was in terms of an eviction order issued by the courts on June 6, 2023 in favour of the land developer. The order was issued after the land developer lodged a court application through Chigwanda Legal Practitioners, with the eviction being set at December 6, 2023 after a six-month grace period. Emotions ran high as the owners of the structures witnessed the demolitions with their fury directed at the land baron, identified as Emmanuel Chikono, who has since gone into hiding after pocketing thousands of dollars from the illegally parcelled stands. Traders and residents did not resist the eviction after the Messenger of Court produced the court order. They said Chikono failed to disclose to them that he was not the legal owner of the piece of land. Neither did he notify them that a demolition order had been issued against them. “At least he should have told us to remove our valuables from our premises. Now he has just disappeared and we have suffered losses. “We hope authorities manage to track him down and bring him to justice. This is not fair on us,” said one trader who identified himself as Silas Nkomo. The vendors said they were allocated spaces by Chikono, who lied that the land belonged to the ruling Zanu PF party. They said if they had been given notice, they would have complied with the eviction order. Another trader Ms Nomsa Ncube said they had been on the piece of land since 2000 and were surprised to see earthmovers demolishing their structures. “Our chairperson, Emmanuel, was supposed to inform us about the eviction order from the court and tell us to remove our belongings. What he only did yesterday was to pack his belongings and today we never saw him,” she said. Another vendor, Mr Brighton Chiminya said: “I am hurt because this is what my family was surviving on. Yes, the law has been applied and it’s fine but I am hurt.” Another shop owner, Tsitsi Dongo, said he had taken out a loan to start a business and expressed bitterness towards Chikono for misleading them. “I recently took a loan from my friend and had just started my small business of buying and selling cell phones and television sets. “I definitely have to repay that loan, but now I do not know how I am going to do that since the shop is being destroyed. I am now stuck,” he said Another shop owner, Ms Rejoice Mpofu, said the shop was her only source of income. “I do not know what to do next, I am so hurt. “This shop was my only source of income. I do not know where to start from. Emmanuel must be arrested,” she said. [source: The Herald]