Mutoti said the youths were riding on protection from political heavyweights and it had therefore become difficult to rein them in. Of late, Zanu (PF) has increasingly used land distribution in Harare and Chitungwiza in a bid to widen its support base in urban areas – formerly MDC strongholds.
There have been clashes between MDC-T and Zanu (PF) youths in Chitungwiza over illegal settlements that have been as a result of the land grabs. Seven youths, five from MDC-T and two from Zanu (PF), have appeared in court after the clashes. The MDC-T youths have accused the police of bias.
“These land grabs are a big headache because the youths are operating above the law. They seem to have support from some people in high offices because they are really operating with impunity. When we tried to raise our concerns, the youths organised themselves and came to my house baying for my blood.
“I had to rush and hide inside and that was when they started beating drums and singing outside my gate. They were angry that I am against the illegal parcelling out of land,” said Mutoti, who made a police report at St Mary’s police station.
He said it was unfortunate that the current land grabs had created so much tension. “There are some people who have a tendency of resorting to violence to accomplish their goals. We are saying that for us to develop our town, we need to be united and live peacefully. But that is not the environment at the moment,” said the mayor. He urged all residents to abide by the law despite their political links or affiliation.
“But the problem is that we have youths who would tell you that they have inks with political bigwigs hence they are entitled to anything that they want. That is the major problem in Chitungwiza because at the end of the day, it becomes very difficult to implement the law,” said Mutoti.
Chitungwiza Municipality is set to demolish over 20,000 houses that were built on undesignated land. The majority of these housing stands were distributed by land barons who are allegedly linked to the ruling Zanu (PF) party.
Observers urged people to be careful about accepting stands from party youths, saying they could spend their hard-earned cash building structures only to have them demolished in the future because they were illegally constructed.
Post published in: News