…orders executor to take over Gweru scheme
MARTIN MAWAYA
HARARE-The High Court of Zimbabwe has stripped the Zimbabwe Housing Projects Trust (ZHPT) of control over a disputed housing development, in a case that exposes how poorly regulated land schemes are ensnaring thousands of aspiring homeowners across the country.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Joel Mambara, cancelled a March 22, 2019 agreement that amended an earlier 2013 deal, citing irregularities that emerged after Mudzengi’s death in 2021.
The case was filed under High Court reference HCH1882/25 by estate executor Isaac Tigere Tichareva against ZHPT, where Gweru City Council, Vungu Rural District Council and the Master of the High Court were also cited as respondents.
Justice Mambara ordered the executor to manage, develop and service the Fortune Meadowlands Park housing scheme at Bucks Farm, Lower Gweru Road, and to work directly with beneficiaries to complete the project.
The ZHPT was also directed to pay costs.
The ruling could bring closure to more than 1,000 prospective homeowners who have endured years of uncertainty, alleging mismanagement, double allocations and failure to service stands.
“It’s good to make closure to the case and we are giving all the support to the new developer,” said Gweru District Development Coordinator Tarisai Mudadigwa, whose office intervened after homeowners petitioned authorities.
Beneficiaries’ committee chairperson Fadzai Magama said the judgment was a relief to over 390 affected home seekers, many of them teachers under the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA).
ZHPT Chief Operating Officer Donovan Kushata confirmed the trust had appealed, saying clients would be updated, while Estate executor Oliver Masomera declined to comment, citing the pending appeal.
Pattern of failed schemes
Investigations by The Midweek Watch revealed that ZHPT has faced a string of disputes across the country over stalled housing projects dating back more than a decade.
In Bulawayo, ZHPT launched the Upper Range Mall project in 2012 with 536 stands, and the Lower Range Mall in 2013 with 304 stands.
Both projects collapsed amid legal wrangles.
In Kwekwe, the 2013 NESBY Project saw landowner Oswald Mutasa reclaim his property after ZHPT failed to develop the stands, despite 80% of the beneficiaries completed payments of US$30,000 for 1,000m² stands.
The pattern is the same In Shurugwi, the Magakooshla and Zvishavane projects, ZHPT failed to service the land acquired in 2014.
Widening scrutiny
The string of stalled projects has fueled allegations of mismanagement and deception by ZHPT, with critics accusing the trust of collecting millions of dollars from desperate home seekers without delivering basic infrastructure.
The High Court ruling on Fortune Meadowlands scheme marks the major judicial intervention directly handing control of a project back to an estate executor, a move legal analysts say could set a precedent for other contested housing schemes.
For hundreds of families who paid for land over a decade ago, however, the outcome still hinges on whether the ZHPT appeal succeeds.
