Mugabe’s meddling into housing rentals slammed

By Henry Makiwa
14 August 2007

Robert Mugabe’s latest attempt at fanning his flagging popularity with the country’s urban populace by controlling accommodation rentals was on Tuesday roundly condemned by the opposition and ordinary members of the public.

Addressing a rented crowd, most of them force marched by the army to the National Heroes Day commemorations in Harare on Monday, Mugabe fired a broadside at urban landlords for overcharging their lodgers.

The ageing dictator warned estate agents and landlords they should respect the laws of the land, pointing out that the moratorium on rent increases was still in force.

MDC MP for Glen View, Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga, swiftly brushed off Mugabe’s latest strategy as a ‘cheap and half-thought’ economic strategy.

The secretary-general from the Mutambara MDC faction added; ‘It won’t happen. You can’t deal with the symptoms before addressing the cause of a crisis. We are living in a distorted economy and you cannot address that distortion by playing around with the symptoms that keep cropping about. He (Mugabe) needs to address the political fundamentals which are pushing the economic fundamentals, leading us to this crisis.’

The MP said tenants will still pay what the landlords charge for rent and not yield to the government’s calls as they will end up on the streets.

‘It’s a scenario akin to the price freeze Mugabe recently enforced which ended with goods off the formal places and on the streets and black market. The housing issue will again end up dealt with amoungst the people themselves underground. Where there’s a commodity there will always be demand. If they have failed to control prostitution, which is actually on the rise, how then can they control housing? Asked Misihairambwi-Mushonga.

The legislator’s sentiments were echoed by Albert Mthembo, a lodger in Harare’s Kuwadzana high density suburb.
He said; ‘Besides attacking innocent landlords Mugabe had nothing new to say again yesterday. All he wants to create is another chaotic situation that will lead the less fortunate amongst us homeless. What this will lead the landlords to do, if put under pressure by government, is to simply tell us to pack up and ship out.’

Edna Sithole, a house owner in Mutare, said landlords may be forced to resort to barter deals such as ‘groceries to stay’ with their tenants if the government cornered them with its proposed new policy.

She added; ‘The little money we are charging our lodgers is not enough to buy groceries to even last a week, maybe a bag of sugar. At the moment rentals for a room in the high density locations are pegged at an average of Z$200 000 which can’t even buy a laundry bar. It’s another disastrous move by Musharukwa (The Old Man – a reference to the ageing Mugabe).”