Tensions erupts over Harare Master Plan

Tensions erupted during a City of Harare Works and Town Planning Committee meeting today, as councillors fiercely resisted attempts by city management and consultants to push through a massive 900-page draft master plan without adequate scrutiny.

The long-awaited document, which is expected to shape Harare's development for the next 20 years, was tabled alongside a 300-page supporting report. But councillors said they were being railroaded into endorsing the policy without the time or information necessary to make an informed decision.

Tempers flared after a city-hired consultant attempted to summarise the complex document in a one-hour presentation and urged councillors to adopt it immediately. The move was met with outright defiance.

"We are being coerced to rubber-stamp a document that will shape Harare's future for a generation, without being given the time or information to make informed decisions," said one councillor, who sits on the Works and Town Planning Committee. "This is not consultation; it is imposition."

Another councillor echoed the frustration, questioning the logic of adopting such a critical planning instrument after just a brief summary. "How can we be expected to approve a 900-page policy and a 300-page report after a one-hour briefing? The people of Harare deserve better," the councillor said. "We demand a full-day session for proper presentations and debate before any adoption takes place."

City officials have previously insisted that the master plan process involved extensive stakeholder engagement and public consultation, including community meetings and expert input. However, councillors at the meeting argued that meaningful consultation must go beyond tokenistic exercises.

"Consultation means more than ticking boxes. It means listening to the people's views, allowing amendments, and ensuring transparency at every stage," one committee member said. "We will not be party to a process that sidelines elected officials and the communities we serve."

The master plan is a key statutory document intended to guide land use, infrastructure development, housing, transport, and environmental sustainability in Harare through to 2045. Its completion is long overdue, with the last master plan having expired more than a decade ago.

Yet the manner in which it is now being handled has raised serious concerns among policymakers and civic leaders, who fear that rushing the process could embed long-term structural flaws and open the door to corruption and elite capture of urban resources.

Efforts to get a comment from the lead consultant, Mr Trymore Muderere, were unsuccessful by the time of publication.

Councillors are now demanding that city management postpone the submission of the draft to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works until all elected representatives have had time to fully review, discuss, and amend the plan. They are also calling for a transparent, publicly accessible debate on the master plan's priorities, impacts, and implementation mechanisms.

The confrontation has further exposed the simmering tensions between elected councillors and technocrats in the municipality, with the former increasingly vocal about what they see as attempts to bypass democratic oversight on major policy matters.