By Desire Tshuma
Two housing cooperatives located at Mufakose Extension are in serious fights over boundary demarcation forcing the other to take the issue to the courts.
The housing cooperatives are located between Mufakose Extension and Budiriro 5. The land was given to four housing cooperatives in 2012. The beneficiaries of the housing scheme include 7 Kuwirirana -Housing Trust, Taringana Housing Cooperative, Youth In Business Housing Cooperative, and the Harare Housing Scheme.
Among the four housing cooperatives, two of them are having serious demarcation issues. 7 Kuwirirana Housing Trust is accusing Kuwirirana Housing Scheme of invading into their land and barring them from accessing water points.
”We were given this land in 2012 through the Ministry of Small and Medium Cooperatives and we resettled full time in 2014. We met with our next-door Taringana housing cooperative to demarcate ourselves but later they started to forcefully encroach into our territory violently,” narrated Elizabeth Samson.
”As if this was not enough, we access water from the borehole which was drilled by a Non-Governmental Organization which is in their territory which is the only water source that supplies all the local community. They (Taringana) refuse us to get water there. Some of our cooperative members have been physically attacked by Taringana housing cooperative members for fetching water from that borehole,” said Mai Samson the vice-chairperson for the housing trust.
Taringana housing cooperative is allegedly working in cahoots with former Harare Mayor Clr Herbert Gomba who is accused of clandestinely selling extra land to Taringana, causing commotion between the two cooperatives.
Unconfirmed reports say the former chairperson for now 7 Kuwirirana Mr. Tatenda Seremani is allegedly selling 7 Kuwirirana stands to land seekers purporting to be the rightful owner, thereby swindling stands seeking desperate citizens to fatten his pocket.
Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa recently warned land barons that the long arm of the law shall descend on them. Efforts to get comments from Taringana housing cooperative chairperson Miss Shelter Gomwe before publishing were fruitless as her phone went unanswered