The families from ward 4, Stub area, among them the elderly, the disabled, the sick and children are exposed to the rains and the chilly nights, with no compensation from the local authority in sight. Epworth Local Board, backed by the police, invaded the area on October 16, 2014 and pulled down the houses which they said were illegally built in an area reserved for home industries. The demolitions have since been declared illegal by the High Court.
“My house was demolished without notice and there is no way I can afford to construct another structure without assistance. One of my children was injured by falling walls as the house was pulled down while they were asleep,” said Rhodha Joao, 31, a mother of three.
Traumatised
Joao’s husband, like the majority of Zimbabweans, is out of employment. Two of her children have had to drop out of school.
Memory Ngwarai, 39, who lost two rooms in the demolitions, said her life had become unbearable as putting up another house was beyond her means. She said the demolitions had left her traumatised and tablets for her undisclosed illness were still buried in the debris.
“It pains us to be treated like criminals by a government which is supposed to respect human dignity. Government has neglected us and the police, who we thought would protect citizens, was in the company of people who demolished our only homes,” said Ngwarai. “The big question is why the local board chose to demolish the houses at the beginning of the rainy season. In fact, 90 percent of structures in Epworth were constructed without the local authority’s consent. So we wonder why only our area was targeted.”
Branita Panavanhu, 38, said she had only just finished building her two-roomed house when it was demolished. “I was born and bred here and so were my parents. Never had I expected the government to treat us like aliens.
Outsiders benefit
“To make matters worse I have been on the council housing waiting list for the past five years but when housing stands are available they are always allocated people from outside Epworth,” said Panavanhu, citing Greenwood suburb as an example of a project which benefited outsiders.
She called on the local authority to at least engage in dialogue with residents before devastating exercises such as shelter demolitions were carried out.
Benjamin Mushore said some people sustained injuries as they were either trapped in falling houses or assaulted by police. His house was razed to the ground and his vending wares destroyed. He was arrested and detained at Epworth Police Station for demanding that the local board and the police produce a court order and relevant documents authorising the demolitions.
“After losing all my lifetime investments in the house I was shocked to learn that police had falsified allegations against me and others that we were arrested for violent behaviour,” Mushore said in disbelief.
Committees
The Epworth Residents Development Association has since formed resistance committees to protect houses against future council attempts to demolish them without a court order. The committees were a result of the High Court ruling in favour of the targeted households.
Daniel Foya, Epworth Residents Association chairperson expressed disappointed at the government’s “insensitivity to the plight of the poor”, which has resulted in people living in the open while children dropped out of school.
“The demolitions which came during the rainy season exposed affected families to outbreaks such as diarrhoea which has since been reported in the area. We appeal to the donor community and other well-wishers to assist the affected families,” said Foya.
Henry Kane, Epworth Residence Development Association programmes development coordinator, called on the government to respect people’s dignity. He said it was disturbing to note that the demolitions only targeted the poor, while the rich got away with constructing buildings in wet lands and other forbidden areas.
Apologise
“Despite the court’s ruling against the demolitions, the Local Board and the powers that be are yet to compensate affected families, let alone apologise for the crime,” Kane said, urging residents to vote members of parliament from among the community who were sensitive to the needs of the people.
Recently, Epworth Local Board said it had demolished a few houses build illegally on land belonging to some business people. It indicated that it had since stopped the demolitions and if need be, would continue after allocating alternative land to the targeted families.
Zimbabwe’s constitution forbids forced evictions without the victims being offered alternative shelter.
Post published in: News