By A Correspondent- Paul Tungwarara, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s special advisor, has been taken to court over an alleged illegal occupation and seizure of residential land in Harare.
This latest case further exposes the controversial land dealings linked to the Office of the President and Cabinet.
Tungwarara is being sued by Harare resident Chenjerai Milton Musonza, who accuses the presidential aide of expropriating his legally allocated residential stand and converting it into a “Presidential Scheme” without consent or compensation.
Musonza has filed a lawsuit against the City of Harare and its director of housing and community services, citing their complicity or negligence in allowing the takeover to occur.
According to the court papers, Musonza was allocated Stand Number Rem 5807 Glenview, Harare, in March 2020 under a high-density infill programme.
He paid a total of ZWL$485,317.54 for the land and associated development costs, including:
- ZWL$1,500 for administration fees,
- ZWL$30,000 as a provisional land deposit,
- ZWL$150,967.53 for water connections, and
- ZWL$302,850 for sewer infrastructure.
However, in 2023, Musonza discovered that his stand had been taken over and transformed into a so-called Presidential Solar Scheme, with a borehole drilled and a solar installation erected—without his knowledge or approval.
After raising the issue with the City of Harare, municipal officials promised to allocate him an alternative stand.
But Musonza says communication from council authorities abruptly stopped, and repeated follow-ups through his lawyers have been ignored.
He is now seeking legal recourse and compensation for what he describes as a blatant land grab orchestrated through political power and presidential proximity.
Tungwarara, a businessman and loyal Zanu PF operative, rose to prominence as one of the architects of Mnangagwa’s controversial “empowerment schemes” often marketed as Presidential Initiatives.
He has been described as a key fixer and middleman in land deals linked to the Office of the President and Cabinet.
Over the past five years, Tungwarara has reportedly spearheaded several public-private schemes under the guise of development — including Presidential borehole projects, solar schemes, youth empowerment housing developments, and politically branded food distribution networks.
Many of these projects were rolled out in peri-urban and high-density areas ahead of the 2023 general elections and weretouted as government-led interventions, but critics argue they were thinly veiled vote-buying operations.
In numerous cases, such projects have clashed with urban planning regulations, while local residents have accused Tungwarara’s network of land seizures, intimidation, and using presidential authority to bypass municipal oversight.
Tungwarara has also been linked to land parceling deals involving:
- Politically connected housing cooperatives in Harare South and Budiriro,
- Private companies fronting as public development agencies,
- And the controversial use of Harare City Council land for so-called “Presidential input support schemes.”
Despite these accusations, he has remained shielded by his proximity to President Mnangagwa and continues to operate with perceived impunity — until now.
The latest court case, involving a private citizen who followed legal procedures and paid for land through formal channels, could expose a much wider network of elite land capture operating under the banner of state-sanctioned development.