HARARE-
More
than
144
sites
in
Harare
have
been
invaded
by
land
barons
resulting
in
the
city
going
to
the
courts
for
recourse,
parliament
heard
this
Monday.
This
comes
as
Harare
has
seen
an
influx
of
buildings
being
built
on
wetlands
and
other
places,
including
roadsides.
Admond
Nhekairo,
the
housing
director
for
Harare,
told
parliament’s
thematic
committee
on
climate
change
that
the
land
barons,
do
not
stop
there,
but
use
“lawfare”
to
frustrate
the
city’s
efforts
to
curb
rampant
lawlessness.
He
said
this
has
resulted
in
illegal
developments
proceeding
while
court
processes
drag
on,
sometimes
for
years.
Nhekairo
told
MPs:
“There
is
now
a
tendency
by
some
of
these
invaders,
what
I
can
call
lawfare,
where
they
quickly
rush
to
the
courts
with
dirty
hands
and
apply
for,
say,
spoliation
orders,
where
they
seek
to
regain
what
they
feel
they
are
being
repossessed
in
terms
of
that
piece
of
land.
And
we
will
be
in
courts
for
two
years.
“Meanwhile,
developments
will
be
taking
shape.
When
council
finally
wins
its
case,
we
now
take
restorative
action
to
ensure
that
whatever
has
been
done
wrongly
is
rectified.
“This
is
the
challenge
that
we
are
having,
but
when
I
spoke
of
144
sites
invaded,
I
was
basically
talking
of
the
preponderance
by
land
barons
to
take
occupation
of
municipal
land
illegally.”
At
the
same
meeting,
the
Environmental
Management
Agency
said
at
least
152
applications
for
the
development
of
wetlands
from
developers
and
proposed
subdivisions
by
the
City
of
Harare
have
been
lodged
for
regularisation.
“The
agency
has
so
far
received
a
total
of
152
applications
for
proposed
developments
in
wetlands,
it’s
quite
a
huge
number
and
these
applications
includes
Environmental
Impact
Assessment
applications
by
the
developers
and
proposed
subdivisions
or
change
of
land
use
applications
by
the
city
and
the
department
of
spatial
planning
to
us.
It
is
a
positive
that
at
least
now
we
are
communicating
in
terms
of
what
needs
to
be
done,
”
said
Christopher
Mushava,
the
acting
director
general.