A simmering land dispute in St. Martin’s, Harare, has boiled over, exposing a shocking alleged scandal involving the City of Harare and the Roman Catholic Church. Residents who bought and developed their stands are now facing eviction threats, claiming the City Council has sold their land a second time. They are claiming that this is due to pressure from Zimbabwe Vice President, CGDN Chiwenga.

The issue revolves around land initially designated for a pay scheme that began back in 2016.

The Residents’ Story: $12,000 for a Dream

According to Dave Denge, Chairman of the St. Martin’s Pay Scheme, the arrangement with the City of Harare was straightforward. Over 320 beneficiaries were required to pay an intrinsic value of US$12,000 for their stands. After this payment, the City Council was also meant to charge a $5,000 development fee to service the land with essentials like water and sewer systems.

The residents upheld their end of the bargain. They paid the intrinsic value, and also paid the development fees. However, Denge alleges that the promised development never fully materialized. While some materials for water and sewer were reportedly purchased, they later disappeared, raising questions about accountability within the council.

Tired of waiting for the City Council, the residents took matters into their own hands. They pooled their resources, contracting a company called Tarcot to finally install the necessary water and sewer infrastructure. Evidence from the area shows houses in various stages of construction, with an estimated 70 residents already building on their land.

The Shocking Twist

The situation took a dramatic turn last week when the residents were reportedly served with Council letters declaring them to be “illegal settlers” who must vacate the area. The reason: the same piece of land had allegedly been sold to the Roman Catholic Church.

Mr. Denge asserts that the land is no longer municipal property but private property owned by the 320 beneficiaries. He stresses that the Roman Catholic Church is aware of the residents’ prior claim and development efforts.

When the residents attempted to engage with the Catholic representatives, they were allegedly told that the Church had been “pursuing purchasing this land for a very long time,” further highlighting that the Council moved to sell private land.

Controversial politician, Temba Mliswa, alleges that Vice President Chiwenga is behind the saga as he held a meeting with council and arm twisted them to write letters throwing out the residents.

What Happens Next?

The residents of St. Martin’s are clear: they refuse to sell their properties and will not accept any alternative land offered by the government as compensation.

1. Direct Appeal to the Council: The Pay Scheme has written to the City of Harare, demanding an explanation and reminding them that they sold the land in question in 2016 and no longer have the right to negotiate it with a third party.
2. Legal Action: The residents have stated they are preparing to take the matter to court, believing that “no one is above the law.”

Please watch the full interview below

Speaker 1 (Interviewer): Good afternoon.

Speaker 2 (Mr. Denge): Uh my name is Dave Denge. I’m the Chairman of St. Martin’s Pay Scheme. Uh St. Martin’s Pay Scheme uh was formed by City of Harare in 2016 after vanga vakumisa ma cooperatives (after they had stopped the cooperatives). Saka patiri St. Martin’s, panapa hapo haisusu tange tisingazive hanti tichakasanganawo panapa ne City of Harare after taita ma application ekutenga ma stands ku City of Harare. (So where we are in St. Martin’s, it’s not that we didn’t know the area, but we met with the City of Harare after we applied to purchase stands from the City of Harare.)

Saka we offered ma stands through a process yaive yekuti unotanga une lodger’s card, from lodger’s card vokukuvita for ma interviews. O ma channels akaitwa zviri above board. Then, ta-ta offer ma stands, takabhadhara intrinsically ku City of Harare yekuti tatothenga land from City of Harare. Ya yedu. (So we were offered stands through a process that involved first having a lodger’s card, and from the lodger’s card they would invite you for interviews. All channels were done above board. Then, we were offered the stands, we paid the intrinsic value to the City of Harare, meaning we had bought the land from the City of Harare. It’s ours.)

Then after tabhadhara intrinsic City of Harare asked for $5,000 development fee, meaning kuti City of Harare was supposed to develop our stands. (Then after we paid the intrinsic value, the City of Harare asked for a $5,000 development fee, meaning that the City of Harare was supposed to develop our stands.) And we’re still hoping kuti they are going to develop ma stands because takawoped them our money. Materials were bought for water and sewer but they disappeared ku remembrance kuno kwa Jealousy Kude Director of Housing. (And we are still hoping that they are going to develop the stands because we already paid them our money. Materials were bought for water and sewer, but they disappeared to where the Director of Housing, Jealousy Kude, is.)

Saka ma materials abviwa, time yafamba, we are now in 2025. We decided tichideveloper tega. Saka ma beneficiaries takatanga kubatanidza mari. As we speak, tina mapipe tiri kutotenga ku Triggers, takacontract kambani inonzi Tarcot iri kuita water and sewer. (So the materials were taken, time has passed, we are now in 2025. We decided to develop ourselves. So the beneficiaries started pooling money. As we speak, we are buying pipes from Triggers, we contracted a company called Tarcot, which is doing the water and sewer work.)

Saka we were surprised last week kuti same council akatitengesera land irikuda kupa same land ku Roman Catholic. But Roman Catholic inotoziva kuti land iyo nde ma beneficiaries. Haisisi ye City of Harare. (So we were surprised last week that the same council that sold us the land now wants to give the same land to the Roman Catholic. But the Roman Catholic knows that that land belongs to the beneficiaries. It no longer belongs to the City of Harare.)

Saka hatizive kuti iwo ve Roman Catholic ndovanozvitofit vanofight ma human rights. Hami noti vanga ndokufighta ma human rights kwacho here kuti iwo varikuda kutoburitsa ma citizens. (So we don’t know if the Roman Catholic, who claim to fight for human rights, are indeed fighting for human rights by wanting to evict the citizens.)

Speaker 1 (Interviewer): So have you had any interactions with the Roman Catholic?

Speaker 2 (Mr. Denge): Not yet, but takanyora tsamba takana navo kwa vari. Vamwe vakati havasiku ziva, but Vice Chancellor of Catholic Invest akati ‘We’ve been pursuing purchasing ye land iyoyi for a very long time’. (Not yet, but we wrote a letter to them and we met with them. Some said they didn’t know, but the Vice Chancellor of Catholic Invest said, ‘We’ve been pursuing purchasing this land for a very long time’.)

Speaker 1 (Interviewer): Alright. So imimi as the residents, what other steps have you taken to try and regain control?

Speaker 2 (Mr. Denge): Uh we’ve written a letter to City of Harare, reminding them that we are the owners of these stands. These stands they no longer belong to them. They don’t have any right yekunegotiater na anyone anenge ari interested neland inobo it’s not their land. (Uh we’ve written a letter to the City of Harare, reminding them that we are the owners of these stands. These stands no longer belong to them. They don’t have any right to negotiate with anyone interested in this land because it’s not their land.)

Even government, doesn’t even have right to try to purchase this land from City of Harare because it’s no longer City of Harare property, it’s a private property.

Speaker 1 (Interviewer): So, how many are you, roughly?

Speaker 2 (Mr. Denge): We are around 320. 320 stands.

Speaker 1 (Interviewer): How many are yet on the ground, or already on the ground?

Speaker 2 (Mr. Denge): Uh, close to maybe 70. 70 residents, yeah. And others, they are not yet on the ground but they are starting to rebuild their houses.

Speaker 1 (Interviewer): Alright. So, are you going to take the matter to court or what?

Speaker 2 (Mr. Denge): Definitely, we have to do that because no one is above the law. Uh our lawyers are working on that. But we have started by writing a letter to City of Harare, we are waiting for their response whilst our legal team is working on modalities of going to the court.

Speaker 1 (Interviewer): We understand that government is offering alternative land for the residents. Are you willing to accept that or not?

Speaker 2 (Mr. Denge): We won’t accept that.

Speaker 1 (Interviewer): Any any reasons? Because it has promised to compensate-

Speaker 2 (Mr. Denge): We are not willing to sell our properties. And we don’t have any plans of selling our properties to them. So, uh, yes, they’ve got a good initiative that they want to build a hospital. Even people in Beatrice they need a beautiful hospital like the one that they want to build here in St. Martin’s. Here in Harare we’ve got many hospitals, good hospitals. People in Beatrice, I think they deserve, they want that hospital better than us. More than us.

Speaker 1 (Interviewer): Alright, thank you Mr. Denge.

Speaker 2 (Mr. Denge): Thank you.