Source: Harare leases Newlands land to four firms – The Standard
The Harare City Council has issued leases to four companies that applied for land in the leady Newlands area that sparked a dispute that resulted in the arrest of deputy mayor Rosemary Muronda and former Harare South MP Shadreck Mashayamombe in January.
Harare mayor Jacob Mafume was questioned by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) over the case, but was not charged.
The lease agreements signed in February are effective from March 1 and renewable every five years, according to the documents seen by The Standard.
Beneficiaries of the land allocation are Aspire Elite Incorporated (Private) Limited, Diexodus Marketing (Private) Limited, Gemdale Investments (Private) Limited, and Clean Burn Energy (Private) Limited.
The leases were issued despite an order from Local Government minister Daniel Garwe to transfer the land to Logara Properties as part of a swap deal the minister proposed in July last year.
Muronda and Mashayamombe were arrested after Marvis Java approached Zacc claiming that she had been sold a non-existent commercial stand in Newlands.
The two were each granted US$500 bail the day later after Java withdrew the charges against them.
Council resisted the order to transfer the land to Logara as it argued that a High Court order that had acknowledged that it belonged to the four companies that initiated the layout plan.
According to court papers, the companies applied for the land in 2023 and secured the High Court order on July 24 last year to protect their interests, after noting that other powerful individuals were attempting to take the land.
The council, despite acknowledging Garwe’s letter, continued the process to allocate the land to the four companies while working on modalities to swap the land allocated to the four companies.
On September 4 last year, the City of Harare wrote a finance report seeking approval for the allocation, which was signed by the town clerk the following day.
It was approved by the council in a full meeting in October last year, after which a public notice was issued inviting objections. No objections were raised.
Garwe called another meeting with Mafume, insisting the land be handed over to Logara, despite the council having already completed the process to provide lease agreements to the four companies.
The minister claimed Logara would invest US$70 million in a greenfield project.
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