Govt reiterates commitment to decent housing; targets over one million beneficiaries by 2030

By Staff Reporter

THE government has reaffirmed its commitment to providing decent housing for all citizens with a target of housing over one million people by 2030 focusing on eliminating illegal settlements.

This emerged at the official groundbreaking ceremony of popular cleric Emmanuel Makandiwa’s United Family International Church (UFIC) housing project in Waterfalls, Harare, Wednesday.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Local Government Benjamin Kabikira, said government is open to collaborating with private sector partners to facilitate the development of serviced housing as part of its strategy to address illegal settlements and ensuring access to basic services like electricity, clean water and sanitation.

Kabikira also stated that, by 2030, more than one million people would have benefited from these public-private partnerships.

“We have many illegal settlements in Zimbabwe and it is also our wish that everyone must have a well-serviced home with electricity, roads, access to clean water and a sewer reticulation system,” he said.

“As the government, we are taking many initiatives to provide accommodation to citizens and these projects by churches to push the same agenda towards developing accommodation for everyone, we really appreciate this as a government and it is through these partnerships that we move the nation forward.

“We are aiming to give serviced stands to one million people by 2030 and we are certain we will exceed this target through public private partnerships.”

Kabikira also reiterated the government’s target of providing residential stands to over one million people and promised that the government will help the UFIC to fulfil this project.

The housing initiative, Operation Nehemiah, launched by UFIC in 2016, was created to assist individuals who would typically be unable to afford home ownership and is set to benefit 6,000 people.

Beneficiaries included congregants of the UFIC as well as non-members.

The land earmarked for an orphanage, church and residential stands, had been illegally grabbed and sold to hundreds of families  by suspected Zanu PF-linked land barons who were later evicted after being served with notices on several occasions.