RULING Zanu PF party and government officials are allegedly selling land earmarked for the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport expansion to unsuspecting individuals.
Presidential Affairs and Devolution secretary Tafadzwa Muguti said the individuals claimed to have the support of the country’s leaders, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputies Kembo Mohadi and Constantino Chiwenga.
Addressing journalists yesterday, Muguti said land barons illegally occupied more than 140 sites across Harare as of last month, including the one earmarked for airport expansion.
“The President and the government will not stand aside and watch people enrich themselves using the name of our principals and the name of the party at large,”Muguti said.
“And we have also noticed that the same individuals have now invaded the yellow and red zones of the (RGM) International Airport.
“We do not care what position you hold in the party, we do not care what position you hold in government, as long as you are committing crimes abusing your office and abusing the name of the President and the Vice-Presidents, please pack your things and vacate immediately because this is not a civil matter, it is a security matter, it is a criminal matter and we’ll deal with it decisively.”
In July, The Standard exposed how Tourism and Hospitality deputy minister Tongai Mnangagwa sought to regularise the stay of his supporters that illegally settled on land reserved for the expansion of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
Mnangagwa is the MP for Hunyani constituency.
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According to a letter addressed to the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) chief executive officer dated July 2, 2025, Mnangagwa sought the regularisation of people staying on “part of the land within the airport’s yellow zone”.
The late former President Robert Mugabe in 2015 ordered the destruction of houses built by Nyikavanhu Housing Co-operative adjacent to the airport, describing them as not only an eyesore, but a threat to the development of the airport.
The settlement along Airport Road was declared illegal as the land is reserved for the expansion of the international airport.
Muguti said bigwigs were writing letters with the Zanu PF logo to grab land and ask for monetary benefits from unsuspecting businesses and individuals.
“And there are other people who are likewise giving themselves certain powers, writing letters on behalf of the government. I would like to caution those people that we are onto them,” he warned.
“This habit where we are seeing people pegging land and saying that because the government stopped demolitions, it means now we can sell land, please do not lie to yourselves.
“I would like to make it very clear and categorically clear that the Presidential Title Deeds Programme is not going to be a certificate of authenticity for criminals.”
Muguti urged land barons and “rogue estate agents” to use proper channels, and procedures when accessing and/or selling land.
“The law is the law. It has nothing to do with the judicial system,” he said.
“If an order for demolition comes from the High Court, it will be implemented because you will have committed a crime.
“Land is not bought like sweets on the road.
"Please stop the habit of selling land and then approach the government for regularisation.
“It is not going to happen under the second republic. We do not endorse criminals.”
The government has in recent years launched several audits to establish the extent of the land theft in urban areas that followed the chaotic land reform programme two decades ago, but their findings have never been made public.
Harare has several illegal settlements created by land barons with links to the ruling Zanu PF and council interventions, that include demolition of houses, have so far failed to yield tangible results.
