Epworth On Verge Of Town Council Status As Population Booms

Epworth, one of Zimbabwe’s fastest-growing urban settlements, is set to become the country’s newest town, with authorities awaiting the gazetting of a Statutory Instrument to formalise its elevation from a local board to a town council.

The settlement, located about 12 kilometres southeast of Harare, has grown from a small mission settlement established in the late 19th century into a sprawling urban area with an estimated population of over 300,000.

It was regularised in the 1980s and has since experienced rapid, largely unplanned growth, becoming one of the most densely populated areas around the capital.

Despite its size, Epworth has long struggled with major infrastructure deficits, including poor roads, an erratic water supply, a lack of proper sewer reticulation, and inadequate waste management.

Local officials say town status will give the local authority greater powers to collect revenue, attract investment and deliver services.

Speaking at a full council meeting on Tuesday, 21 July, Epworth Local Board chairperson Councillor Nyarai Rutsito welcomed the impending change, describing it as recognition of the progress made by the local authority in recent years.

Town secretary Wilton Mhanda said all necessary processes for the upgrade had been completed and the board is now awaiting publication of the Statutory Instrument that will officially confer town status.

“We are now awaiting the Statutory Instrument, which could be issued at any time, to grant Epworth town status formally,” he said.

Epworth has been the centrepiece of Zimbabwe’s push to regularise informal settlements in the last three years.

The settlement, which grew rapidly from the 1980s as people occupied land around the old Methodist mission, has for decades operated without formal layout plans, surveyed stands or title deeds.

Many residents only held occupiers’ cards issued in 2001. That left them vulnerable to evictions and unable to use their properties as collateral.

On 22 April 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the Presidential Title Deeds and Settlement Regularisation Programme at Epworth High School, under the banner Kwangu/Ngakwami – My Home/My House.

At the launch, 265 securitised deeds of grant were handed over to selected residents, with government promising more would follow.

The programme was framed as a way to secure property rights for homeowners in areas previously referred to as informal settlements.

Initially, government said at least 11,000 residents from the sprawling suburb would benefit, a figure that was later revised to 11,200.

Ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections, ZANU PF had promised to dish out 80,000 title deeds in Epworth, and nationally government said it was targeting over 1.5 million homeowners.

The rollout has not been without controversy. Housing director Dennis Muranduri has accused some residents’ associations, including Kushinga Epworth Residents Trust and Epworth Urban Residents Association, of derailing the programme by giving false information on the regularisation exercise and instructing residents not to comply.

Associations have been accused of defrauding residents by collecting undisclosed amounts, promising larger pieces of land and multiple stands, and have even illegally parcelled out land reserved for a district hospital in the Robert Mugabe area.