Source: Tuckshops sprout along school perimeter wall – herald
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While learners are entitled to a peaceful environment, Kwayedza High School in Highfield, Harare, has failed to live up to that pledge.
Along the school’s perimeter wall — inches from where learners walk every morning — a row of permanent concrete tuckshops now stands.
They were built not by rogue developers, but with the apparent blessing of the Harare City Council. Official documents suggest a full council resolution gave green light for the project.
In an interview, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume denied any city council involvement and threatened severe disciplinary action against municipal officials suspected of corruptly facilitating the project.
“We cannot possibly approve such a building,” Mayor Mafume said. “This is unmitigated mischief and plain thuggery that has to be stopped forthwith. If anyone sanctioned this atrocity, we will stew that person in their own soup with chilli!”
Harare City spokesperson Mr Stanley Gama described the buildings as illegal and added that the tuckshops will be demolished.
“Those are illegal buildings and we will immediately demolish them. The City of Harare will not allow lawlessness. Council did not and will not approve such structures,” he said.
Despite the denial, an official letter dated May 6, 2024, grants the “50 Angels Pay Scheme” permission to construct the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) structures.
According to the correspondence, the development was approved through formal council channels.
“I am pleased to inform you that the Small to Medium Enterprise Committee meeting of February 28, 2024 (Item-4), resolved to recommend ‘That Council approves the application by 50 Angels Pay Scheme to put up SMEs structure along the perimeter wall of Kwayedza High School which is being used as dumpsites’.
“That recommendation was subsequently adopted by full council at its 1924th Ordinary council session dated 28th March 2024,” the letter reads in part.
It also emerged that the ongoing dispute escalated into a legal battle at the High Court after the City of Harare attempted a U-turn by serving a demolition notice on the cooperative on June 17, 2024.
In response, the traders filed an urgent chamber application to block the eviction.
High Court records show that the legal standoff culminated in a consent order issued by Justice Musithu (Case No. HCH2646/24), where the applicant withdrew its urgent application on condition that the City of Harare formally withdrew its demolition notice.
When contacted for comment, 50 Angels Pay Scheme chairperson Mr Philemon Chaguruka expressed shock at the Council’s position, stating that the project was entirely legal and above board.
“Everything was done above board,” Mr Chaguruka said. “After council approval, we built the first seven shops against the school perimeter wall and we have been paying to council—we do have receipts.”
He maintained that the cooperative holds official receipts for levies paid to the council and stated that if the local authority wants them to vacate the school premises, it must provide alternative land and full financial compensation for their investment.
Meanwhile, Highfield residents have rejected the alleged justification, denying that the school’s perimeter wall was ever replacement by commercial shops.
“This was never a dumpsite; it is a fabricated excuse to justify a corrupt land grab at the expense of our children’s safety,” said local resident and parent, Mrs Agnes Marere.
Another resident, Mr Gift Chitepo, echoed these sentiments, saying, “If there was litter, the council should have collected it, not sold the school boundary. They have turned a place of learning into a chaotic marketplace and forced our children to walk in the middle of a busy road.”
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