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Patrick Chitumba, [email protected]

GOKWE Town Council has engaged communities from Msauki, Mpinda and Godi villages to facilitate a mutually beneficial solution leading to the compensation of families that will be affected by the expansion of the town.

The three communities are situated around the town and this has created friction between the two parties as new suburbs are being set up in areas previously controlled by villagers.

This comes as some villagers have reportedly been selling land earmarked for the expansion of Gokwe town to other players as they fear being displaced without adequate compensation.

Gokwe Town was established in 2006 and this resulted in formerly rural areas being incorporated into the town boundaries. 

Several of these areas are designated for urban development, but some are already occupied by families settled on the land before incorporation as well as informal settlers that took over land and developed residential structures.

While affected households were registered in 2006 and compensation values assessed, no relocation or compensation has taken place since then. 

The local authority was considering evictions for illegal settlers but had to engage in a dialogue process with the affected communities through facilitation by the Centre for Conflict Management and Transformation (CCMT).

The  matter came under spotlight during the recent International Day of Peace commemorations in Gokwe on Saturday, where concerned     communities, local authorities and other stakeholders were urged to engage peacefully to resolve disputes and foster progress.

In an interview on the sidelines of the event, Gokwe South District Development Coordinator (DDC), Ms Netsai Mushauri, said she was happy to note that concerned parties were finding each other. “Gokwe Town is expanding and with the expansion comes along issues of disagreement as the expansion programme eats into villagers’ land. But I am glad to say that the local authority and villagers from Mpinda, Msauki and Godi are finding each other and are now working on the form of compensation to benefit the affected villagers,” she said.

As a result of the dialogue process, Ms Mushauri said the local authority and informal settlers from the Kambasha community negotiated, signed, and adopted a Memorandum of Understanding in 2022, which in summary, lays out the framework for incorporation and regularisation of the community.

“With that positive development in mind, it is clear that the town will develop and the villagers will get their compensation. We are now waiting for the signing of the MoU between the local authority and villagers from Msauki, Mpinda and Godi areas,” she said.

Gokwe Town Council chairperson, Councillor Lucious Mutegwe said the town expansion programme must not negatively affect villagers.

“We  are happy that we have the affected villagers with us as we commemorate the International Peace Day. We are for development and at the same time we want villagers to benefit after displacements,” he said.

Mr Tawanda Shumbayaonda, chairperson of Msauki and Mpinda villages, said the town’s expansion has resulted in the displacement of villagers as well as loss of farming land.

“We were at loggerheads with the local authority when it embarked on the expansion programme. Some lost pastures, agriculture land and generally their livelihoods leading to conflict with the local authority,” he said.

“We were at loggerheads with the local authority until CCMT brought us for dialogue and we agreed to be incorporated into the town as well.”

CCMT coordinator Mr Xavier Mudangwe said they occasionally faced issues that related to people in affected areas fearing loss of their means of livelihood and access to land. 

However, he said these conflicts can be resolved peacefully and amicably, and development can benefit everyone if all parties’ needs and interests are considered and addressed through constructive dialogue.

“CCMT has been working with communities and stakeholders in Gokwe South since 2018, transforming conflicts into opportunities for positive development,” said Mr Mudangwe. 

“We saw it fitting that we commemorate this year’s International Day of Peace in this district to appreciate the milestones we have achieved together and foster further engagement for the continuous peaceful and sustainable development of Gokwe Town and Gokwe South District benefiting everyone.” 

He said some of the milestones achieved include the signing of agreements between Gokwe Town and the Kambasha community and between Gokwe South Rural District Council and Njelele. 

“The mutual agreements have created a roadmap to the peaceful resolution of development-induced conflicts in the district and have been a source of lessons for the district and other districts in the Midlands Province and around the country,” said Mr Mudangwe.