A coordinated syndicate involving housing cooperative leaders (Pungwe-Chimurenga), senior Harare City Council officials and a faction of war veterans is allegedly actively attempting to derail the US$3.8 million Watervlei Burial Park project through alleged intimidation, illegal land occupations and fraudulent manipulation of municipal layout plans.
An investigation by this publication into the 80-hectare project has unearthed a bitter land conflict centered on the Remainder of Eyrecourt (near Prince Edward Waterworks).
Leadership of the Pungwe-Chimurenga housing cooperative is allegedly deploying hired youths to intimidate construction workers and erecting illegal structures directly over planned infrastructure zones.
A wide shot showing one of the structures at the site
The state-of-the-art memorial park, which has been fully approved by the Harare City Council and the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), faces severe disruption as illegal structures encroach upon crucial access routes.
”Some structures are now being built with the road reserve and directly beneath high-voltage power lines complicating our plans,” said project manager Ismail Nanabawa.
A recent site visit by our news team confirmed that while phase-one construction continues, contractors are facing ongoing hostility from the suspected political actors. Pungwe-Chimurenga secretary-general Nyasha Kandenga and chairman Lawrence Tholana have allegedly spearheaded the occupation of land designated for the project’s primary transport links. A service station and an office-like structure are currently being built to block the planned access route connecting the cemetery to Seke Road near Zororo Memorial Park.
Kandenga distanced himself from the service station cinstruction and fingered a businessman named only as Manongwa as the one behind, he however maintained that hos cooperative was the bonafide owners of the land.
“That service station is being built by Manongwa and his papers are in order.I have work for the security department at Chitungwiza town council and I used that experience to vet Manongwa and indeed he was approved by the Ministry,” he said.
He insisted on legitimate ownership claims of Remainder of Eyrecourt , arguing that the land is intended to benefit war veterans and civil servants.
”We have all the relevant documents and clearances from the responsible authorities regarding the land in question, the Remainder of Eyecourt. Our operations are above board and fully compliant with government regulations,” Kandenga said.
He further castigated the construction of the burial park saying it was a health hazard because of its proximity to Prince Edward Waterworks.
“The minister erred by approving that burial site construction,Im sure he did not conduct due diligence and I hope he cancels that approval, we all drink that water,everyone in Harare .Ndiyo mvura inomwiwa chero nevakuru venyika,as residents we dont want that project,” he said.
A quick check at the Deeds registries however tell a different story.
Legal documents reviewed during this investigation reveal that the land belongs to private citizen Dickson Kachepa, who purchased the 78.8894-hectare property—officially registered as The Remainder of Water Vlei of Eyrecourt—for his family in 1991 under Deed of Transfer 1708/91.
Kachepa couldn’t be reached for comment.
One of our multiple sources said the Pungwe Chimurenga leadership has strong connections.
”Kandenga and his cooperative have strong links with some top officials in the town planning department and local government and his purported paper work was fraudulently done,” an anonymous source close to the local government ministry disclosed.
This is not the first time Pungwe-Chimurenga’s leadership has faced scrutiny over illicit land deals. Court records show that Kandenga and Tholana were previously dragged to court after entering into an illicit agreement with a property development firm, Amalish Investments, which sold disputed land to unsuspecting home seekers on behalf of the cooperative.
Amid the land dispute, the developers have vigorously defended the environmental integrity of the US$3.8 million burial park against claims that it threatens Harare’s water table.
”We have undergone years of environmental assessment and government engagement from all relevant departments. We first engaged EMA in 2018 and have maintained our approvals ever since. The latest license renewal was issued in January this year and EMA conducted other comprejensive assessment in March,” Nanabawa said.
”The Ministry of Health, Harare City Council Health Department, representatives from the city’s water sanitation and roads department have visited the site and gave recommendations around erosion control, but there were no objections to the project itself,” Nanabawa added.
To prevent any potential groundwater contamination, the project design implements strict engineering safeguards that exceed standard municipal requirements. Nanabawa noted that the nearest graves will be approximately 450 metres away from water bodies and measures like brick-lined and concrete lined graves will be put in place to minimise possible seepage.
Once the first phase is complete, the cemetery will accommodate roughly 80,000 graves. The disruption also threatens a heavy blow to a national heritage initiative; the developers have entered into a tripartite arrangement with the Memories of Zimbabwe Armed Struggle Trust (MOZAST) and the War Veterans League to reserve 8,000 graves specifically to honor liberation struggle heroes, supporting the state’s ongoing program to exhume and rebury fallen fighters from unmarked graves across the country.
