The Harare City Council (HCC) is under intensifying legal and public scrutiny as cluster housing projects mushroom across the capital’s leafy suburbs, with High Court rulings exposing alleged corruption, irregular approvals, and backdoor land deals.
At the centre of the storm are upscale neighbourhoods such as Borrowdale, Mount Pleasant, Greendale, Highlands and Chisipite, where sprawling construction sites are fast transforming the once low-density zones into congested residential blocks.
Council officials defend the projects as part of a “densification policy” to ease the city’s 500,000-unit housing backlog.
But furious residents say the initiative has been hijacked by profit-hungry developers, aided by pliant city officials who are ignoring planning laws and sidelining community objections.
ALSO READ: City of Harare Run by a Marginalised Group of Mafias
In April, High Court Judge Justice Paul Musithu delivered a major blow to the city’s urban planners, declaring illegal a Greystone Park project by Dashway Investments, which had commenced work without an Environmental Impact Assessment or proper permit.
The ruling halted further construction, following objections from the Borrowdale Residents and Ratepayers Association (BRRA).
That case is one of several mounting legal challenges.
Borrowdale residents are also fighting a planned block of cluster flats by businessman Leonard Mukumba, while Trauma Centre Hospital has approached the courts to stop an office park project it claims endangers patient safety.
Despite dozens of petitions citing procedural violations under the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act, residents accuse council officials of turning a blind eye to irregularities.
Allegations include ignored objections, missing neighbour notifications, and “rubber-stamped” approvals for politically connected developers.
“What we see is a systematic abuse of process,” BRRA spokesperson Robert Mutyasira said.
“Council is issuing permits without upgrading infrastructure, water, roads, electricity and neighbourhoods are being sacrificed for private gain.”
Critics also point out that the high-end cluster units, often selling for between US$150,000 and US$400,000, are priced far beyond ordinary home seekers, undermining the council’s claim of addressing the city’s housing crisis.
Residents have now mobilised at grassroots level, forming hyper-local associations to resist the cluster housing boom and reclaim oversight of their communities.
As the courtroom battles rage, questions continue to mount over whether Harare’s densification drive is a genuine urban renewal plan or a lucrative cover for elite land deals.
