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Seven Year Wait For Insuza Home-Seekers

Insuza housing applicants remain landless amid corruption allegations on stand allocations. Graphic by The Citizen Bulletin


BY VUSINDLU MAPHOSA | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | JUL 9, 2021

It has been seven years since some villagers in Insuza made applications to get land to build their homes with yearly payments to renew the applications. Now, the wait has become unbearable and corruption allegations are being made.


INSUZA (The Citizen Bulletin) — In 2013, Thulani Ncube, a villager in the Insuza area of Matabeleland North deposited part of his savings of US$20 with Umguza Rural District Council for a housing stand. He was among more than 100 other people who made applications.

However, seven years of eagerly waiting for a housing stand seems to be a mere dream, he remains landless.

The applicants, despite paying an equivalent of US$20 annual renewal fees, claim to not have had any feedback from the local authority.

In interviews with The Citizen Bulletin, applicants disclosed that they were not told the sizes of the stands but only assumed it would be revealed during allocation time.

The right to shelter is one of the human rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights in the new constitution and many people are still hunting for permanent space to build their homes both in rural and urban areas across the country.

Applicants say they were promised stands in the shortest period but seven years down the line they still do not know when they will build their homes.

Insuza centre is set to expand into a township and there are claims of political interference in the allocation process.

“Our councillor (ward 11) Patterson Zororo gave us application forms and we have been paying ZWL$2000 or US$20 every year to the council as renewal fees. However, it’s been many years now and there is still no feedback on the stands,” says Ncube.


“We were promised stands at Insuza centre and we are therefore worried over continuing to pay for something we might not possess.”
Thulani Ncube, a housing stand applicant


Another distraught applicant, Portia Dube says she is now losing hope. She claims there are some people who are clandestinely allocated stands at the centre.

“Seven years of waiting is not a joke and remember this is not just waiting, but means partying with money every year as we continue to pay to remain on the waiting list,” she says.

Dube says they engaged their councillor Zororo on the matter, but his efforts seem to be failing.

Villagers allege that there is the partisan distribution of stands by the members of the ruling party. Image by The Zimbabwean


Cllr Zororo told The Citizen Bulletin that the issue of the stands is now contentious for Insuza home seekers.

He blames political meddling in the whole saga.


“I have been confronted by a Zanu PF official who told me to stay away from the issue of the stands. Stands distribution is now political in Insuza and only Zanu PF members are privileged.”
Councillor Zororo


“Zanu PF District Coordinating Committee Chairman Oscar Ncube confronted me saying I must not fish in his net. He said I must stay away from the stands. As a councillor, it’s my responsibility to assist my ward, but with these Zanu PF officials, it is becoming impossible.”

He corroborates Dube's claims of shady allocations taking place.

“More than 400 Zanu PF members received stands at Mgandani village1, Ndlovuiyanyathela phase 1 and 2. When I tried to hold a meeting to address this issue, I was blocked on the condition of COVID-19 measures. Zanu PF members are always holding meetings. This is a matter of politics and favouritism which must be addressed,” he adds.

On his part, Ncube denies being involved in the land distribution scandal.

“There is nothing like that happening, and I demand to know your sources because I am not aware of what they are saying,” he says.


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But his party colleague who identified himself as Mjajana Moyo confirms the stand distribution crisis.

He claims that only repossessed stands from owners who would have failed to build within specified timelines are being allocated.

Dube now thinks they are being taken for a ride, “I now suspect this whole thing is a fundraising programme. There is plenty of land at the centre and by now we must have completed our homes,” she says.


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