HARARE — Local government minister Daniel Garwe has ordered a group of Members of Parliament to vacate Monavale Wetland in Harare after they moved equipment onto the site with plans to build houses.
A stand-off between the MPs and environmental campaigners escalated last Saturday when the activists stood in front of graders to prevent land clearance.
Bikita West MP Energy Mutodi, who led the group of nearly two dozen MPs, admitted defeat on Tuesday.
“I had a meeting with the Speaker of Parliament and also with the minister of local government and we were advised to stop any developments on that site,” he said.
“The current status is that there is not going to be any development for Member of Parliament stands at that site. Everything has been stopped. I’m sure there is going to be alternative land that is going to be allocated to these MPs.”
Mutodi said the MPs had accepted the position put to them.
“We have been given the facts, we are now well aware that this land is a no-go area,” he said. “The equipment has been removed from the site – there is not going to be any development of any nature because of the issues that have been raised by the environmental agencies and so on.”
The wetland is of particular ecological significance to Harare. It stores water throughout the dry season, slowly releasing it into Lake Chivero via the Marimba River – the city’s main water source – while also reducing flooding in downstream suburbs such as Mufakose and Budiriro.
Doug Coltart, a lawyer representing the environmental activists hailed the outcome as a “massive victory for the people.”
