Title deeds for urban dwellers ready

THOUSANDS of urbanites will on Saturday be presented with title deeds as President Mnangagwa delivers on his promise to implement development that leaves no one and no place behind.

The title deeds will ensure security and bankability of the properties.

Acquiring title deeds had for years remained a pipedream but that is set to change with the Second Republic determined to make Zimbabwe an upper-middle-class economy by 2030.

Ruling party's spokesperson, Chris Mutsvangwa, told a media briefing yesterday that a rally pencilled for Epworth, Harare on Saturday, that will be headlined by the President is a signal that the revolutionary party is coming back to its roots — the urban areas that for more than 20 years have been getting a raw deal from successive opposition councils.

"It is a signal by our President that he cares for the urban voter, no one should be left behind under the New Dispensation.

"We have put a lot of attention into the rural areas with programmes such as Pfumvudza, and all the irrigation facilities and there is palpable improvement of lives in rural areas and people are happy, granaries were filled within three years of coming to power, but we cannot focus on rural areas alone.

"Yes, as a revolutionary party, which waged a guerrilla war, the rural constituency is always dear to us but we are now also rolling out programmes for people in urban areas."

Mutsvangwa added that while rural areas remain a source of unwavering support for Zanu-PF, it is natural to also give enough attention to urban areas.

Giving a historical perspective, Mutsvangwa said the country's nationalist movement was born in urban townships like Mbare, Highfield, Mambo and Mpopoma that have now unfortunately been reduced to potholed roads, rivulets of sewage, and anthills of uncollected garbage by the MDC, in all its variations that include the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).

"President Mnangagwa is going back to the roots of the Zimbabwe nationalist movement, which is the urban areas, that is why this rally is so important. It is a signal that Zanu-PF has a plan to turn the towns into shining stars with modern facilities such as airports. We are determined as the Second Republic to transform cities.

"The signature act of the Epworth visit will be the granting of title deeds to the existing stock of urban houses, which the people have but are dead capital.

"We decided as a party in the Politburo and our President championed it that we shall be giving title deeds to urban people, this is a big bank, it is historic because it is a signal to urban people that people in urban setting you have a history of credit on your own, because credit is what drives a modern economy because people right now have no title, they cannot go to the bank and borrow money.

"People were unsure about their status and Zanu-PF is making sure it is going to address the anxiety. As we speak the mapping of the stands is being done by satellites and I am told that at least 80 000 houses and residential stands have been mapped and given addresses.

"So the President will be there to give each one an address and an identity. From there the person can go to the bank, we are going to create the biggest mortgage bank in the country since independence, simply by this act of giving dead capital a new lease of life and giving every urban Zimbabwean with a history of a house title deeds," said Mutsvangwa.

He stressed that the raison d'etre of the country's protracted liberation struggle was to deliver prosperity for Zimbabweans and that is what the Second Republic is determined to achieve as it moves towards Vision 2030 with urban renewal at the core of its thrust.