Councils have no excuse to tolerate land invaders

The continued sprouting of illegal settlements in urban areas is an issue that puts into question the ability of local authorities to bring sanity to our cities.

When the invasions were reported a few weeks ago in this paper, police descended on the invaders in places like Glen View and Glen Norah in Harare and some parts of Chitungwiza where they used force to remove the culprits.

Now, barely two weeks after the police crackdown, the illegal settlers are back again at the same open spaces, including wetlands that are critical for the survival of our cities, carving out pieces of land and allocating them without regard of local authorities settlement plans or even their knowledge.

This story is for NewsDay subscribers.