By Staff Reporter
AT least 96 property owners in Ashdown Park Extension are facing eviction and possible demolition of their homes, with 10 families already evicted as the process entered its second day, Ward 16 Councillor Denford Ngadziore has said.
He said most residents bought their stands for about US$25,000 while the houses now under threat are worth US$180,000 to US$200,000 each, and that the land was originally a farm owned by Mr Sibindi who sold it to Hermish Katsande and later to Denford Katsande before Lawson Properties was engaged as the private developer through a court order and contracted Hesey Construction to service the area.
There is now a dispute over ownership and the circumstances leading to the evictions, with concern that some owners who bought stands from parties operating under the same court order have also received eviction orders and no one involved in selling the stands has been arrested, prompting calls for a thorough investigation by ZACC, the JSC.
Clr. Ngadziore has formally called for an independent, comprehensive forensic audit into all title documents, court judgments, and transactions. He also urged bodies like the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and the Judicial Service Commission to investigate how residents were legally allowed to buy and develop the land only to face sudden eviction.
