A HARARE-BASED land baron is in the eye of a storm for allegedly threatening to grab land in Westlea, while name-dropping individuals in the ruling Zanu PF and government.
Gilbert Bgwende is being accused of threatening people who tried to stop him and fighting Getrude Dumba, who owns the piece of land in Westlea.
Dumba said she felt unsafe since she was a woman.
“I am a woman who has done the right things. I have done all the paperwork and someone just wants to threaten me and grab the land. I am now fearing for my life,” she said.
Bgwende yesterday told NewsDay that he was concerned about the allegations.
“I am actually worried over the issue. I just saw a letter from Cabox. As far as I am concerned, I have never ever interacted with anyone,” he said.
“I am actually going to my lawyer to give him the letter today (yesterday). I don’t even know where all this is coming from.”
However, sources at the Harare City Council said Bgwende was causing problems at Town House.
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“He is a land baron who is controlling some of Harare City Council councillors,” the sources said.
NewsDay is in possession of council minutes showing that Dumba is the owner of the 85 stands in Westlea.
“The committee noted that council had passed a resolution to allocate the same stands as a Council Housing Pay [scheme],” the minutes indicated.
In one of the council resolutions, it was stated that: “The town clerk be granted authority to negotiate a memorandum of agreement with Cabox Investments (Pvt) Ltd for the purposes of development of residential accommodation on 85 unserviced residential stands depicted on layout plan number TP2F/WR/08/15/1 in Warren Park township.”
In a letter dated January 21, 2025, Dumba’s lawyers Chimwamurombe Legal Practice wrote to Bgwende to desist from engaging in prejudicial conduct.
“We act on the instruction of our client, Cabox (Pvt) Ltd, a duly registered land and property development company.
“Note our professional interest in that regard. Our client advises us of the following facts, the basis upon which we demand herein as instructed,” the lawyers wrote.
“You have been engaged in various conduct that is injurious to the good name and reputation of our client, but even more nefarious is your conduct of presenting yourself as a law enforcement official and/or possessing the ability to influence the country’s law enforcement authorities,”
The lawyers accused Bgwende of contacting “individuals, such as one Marezva and Nelson Nyarumba, attempting to coerce them to lodge complaints with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission against our client on the basis of your aforementioned allegations.”
“We are advised that you have actually been witnessed at the City of Harare offices at Remembrance, Mbare, where you had a public altercation with one Marezva, while you were chiding him for his apparent resistance to being complicit to your machinations,” the letter read.
“We are informed that you called one Nelson Nyarumba, requesting to meet with him at Divaris shopping centre to update him on the progress of your ‘plans’.
“In the said meeting, it is alleged that you disclosed that you wield tremendous power over these investigations to the extent that you summoned about 23 councillors for a meeting at KFC food outlet to update them on the progress made in the investigations so far.”
The lawyers said in the meeting with the councillors, Bgwende bragged of wielding tremendous power over council operations to the extent that he abuses processes to achieve his personal goals.
“In this regard, it is alleged that you claimed to have directed one Cllr Blessing Duma to lodge a report against our client Cabox Investments (Pvt) Ltd with Zacc without him having obtained the relevant council approval to do so as per council procedure,” the lawyers said.
