GOROMONZI DISTRICT, ZIMBABWE – For nearly two decades, Darlington Mutakura faced challenges within the Goromonzi district’s housing system. He had long dreamed of becoming a homeowner.
He consistently paid his $13 yearly fee to the Rural District Council’s waitlist for ten years after relocating here with the hope of one day owning a house in this partly urban region close to Harare.
area in 2007.
In the end, hope arrived not from the council but from his sister. She had previously obtained some land from local traditional leaders in her village, located approximately a thirty-minute drive east of Harare. She then set aside part of this land for him.
In 2017, Mutakura constructed a modest two-room cabin on the property and finally believed that he would be free from paying rent ever again.
However, five years later, municipal authorities sent him an official notice: “Order to rectify the unauthorized settlement and pay the corresponding fines.”
Mutakura wasn’t the only resident to receive this letter. The council letter threatened to demolish structures and relocate households for what it called proper planning of the area. The council considered Mutakura and others who obtained land through the traditional system to be “illegal settlers.”
The conventional approach to acquiring land, as practiced by individuals like Mutakura, is intricately embedded within Zimbabwe’s rural customs and is also safeguarded by legislation. Nonetheless, both he and several others faced challenges.
levied a fine of $1,500. Several village chiefs, such as Christopher Tafirenyika, cautioned their communities against paying these fines since the council hadn’t consulted with village leaders beforehand, raising doubts about the purpose of the funds.
That warning rang true for Mutakura, who ended up paying the fine but still doesn’t know whether he’ll be able to stay on the land that he says he acquired legally.
“It doesn’t justify paying a $1,500 fine and ending up with no ownership,” he states.
As the area shifts from rural to urban, traditional land allocation methods encounter growing strain, leading to disputes over property rights. Severe consequences such as
Those implemented in the Goromonzi area affect communities already grappling with growing economic instability.
A penalty of $1,500 is unaffordable for numerous residents in this region. Based on the most recent available statistics, the typical monthly household income in rural Zimbabwe stands at
In 2024, it amounted to US$88, which represents a decline from US$116 in 2023.
Although a settlement may be considered unlawful, national legislation stipulates a fine of $300 or imprisonment for up to one year. It nowhere permits a fee of $1,500.
In various parts of rural Africa, land distribution occurs primarily via inheritance, customary allocation methods, or local purchases, with these procedures historically overseen by traditional community elders.
The land is not privately owned, instead it is managed collectively based on tradition and ancestry, with usage rights governed by the community’s established customs.
states Dzikamai Bere, who serves as the national director for the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association.
As per the 1998 Traditional Leaders Act, chiefs and headmen manage land allocation rights and have the duty of approving new residents within their jurisdictions.
They oversee this. Moreover, every plot distribution and division must receive endorsement from the village leader.
Traditionally, leaders possess primary responsibility for allocating land according to established customs, collaborating closely with the local governmental board.
formally provides land usage privileges, yet according to the Communal Lands Act which enshrines these informal guidelines, the governmental authority needs to collaborate with customary chiefs.
and respect local customs.
This fragile equilibrium between custom and governance previously dictated rural property rights in Zimbabwe.
In the 1980s, the village court would convene to allocate land for those in need. We’d present the issue to the chief and deliberate with the other men.
Village, ensure we adhered to the land boundaries, and subsequently register with the rural district council as instructed by the chief,” states Tafirenyika.
However, during the early 2000s, according to Tafirenyika, he observed this system starting to disintegrate. The land management policies in Zimbabwe experienced substantial alterations as a result.
The government’s accelerated land reform initiative, designed to transfer land from white commercial farmers to black Zimbabweans, especially focusing on those residing in rural areas, was implemented.
communal areas managed by traditional leaders.
Tafirenyika says the Rural District Council now allocates land in Goromonzi, and traditional leaders are powerless — even though the laws that allow people to obtain
The methods of arriving via the conventional path remain unchanged.
Mirriam Kwenda, 70, inherited her land from family. After her husband died, the soil fed her three children. Now it’s vanishing before her eyes. She says that part of what
was her farmland is now subdivided into housing that the council is selling.
“Now the council pegged all the land, and I don’t know which one is mine,” she says.
And Mutakura is concerned about whether he will have anything to pass down to his children.
“We are living a borrowed life, a life of fear,” he says.
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Linda Mujuru serves as a journalist-in-residence for Global Press Journal and is stationed in Harare, Zimbabwe.
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Gamuchirai Masiyiwa serves as a Global Press Journal reporter-in-residence located in Harare, Zimbabwe.
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The tale was initially featured by Global Press Journal.
Provided by Syndigate Media Inc. (
Syndigate.info
).
