Harare land developer vanishes from Gwanda

The Gwanda Municipality has sought government intervention to address a situation involving the servicing of approximately 300 housing stands at Judds Farm in Gwanda, Matabeleland South province. Residents purchased these stands from Harare-based land developer Forit Contracting (Pvt) Limited in 2015, but no progress has been made on the site, leading to their dissatisfaction. They reported being bounced between Gwanda Municipality and Forit.

In a letter dated September 6, 2023, addressed to the Surveyor-General at Trust Towers in Harare, the chief director of spatial planning and development in the Local Government and Public Works ministry, Shingirayi Mushamba, expressed the need for Gwanda Municipality's assistance. The municipality was allocated part of Judds Farm for urban development, and a layout plan was prepared and approved.

The letter requested support for the survey of the approved plan and was copied to the permanent secretary in the ministry. Gwanda's mayor, Thulani Moyo, confirmed that they had engaged the director of the physical planning department and were in communication with Forit through the engineering department to address the matter.

In June of the same year, the residents had petitioned the then Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution minister Abednigo Ncube to express their concerns about the delayed servicing of their stands. They had paid varying amounts, ranging from US$3,000 to US$11,000 for stands in different areas. The residents described the agreement with the company as involving servicing the stands to allow people to build houses, but no progress had been made since 2015. They called for urgent attention to their situation.