Anglican, council in stands marriage

THE Anglican Church Diocese of Harare, in collaboration with the Norton Town Council, has embarked on a noble project that will see the less privileged and low-income earners acquiring residential stands.

More than 2 000 people are set to benefit.

Hundreds of people thronged Norton Town Council a fortnight ago for the residential stands’ allocation.

Anglican Harare Diocese leader, Archbishop Chad Gandiya, told The Sunday Mail Society that initially the project was earmarked to cater for members of the Anglican clergy.

“Initially, our idea was to assist members of our clergy, when they retire they move out of church properties so we wanted them to have their own houses. We then got land in Norton and opened to individuals who were interested,” said Archbishop Gandiya.

He said the project was not exclusive to Anglicans only.

The church is in the process of looking for more land as more people have shown interest in the project.

“I am pleased with this project, I am happy that as a church we have made it possible for people to have places to stay peacefully.

“This is one of our mandates as a church. We should preach to people who have peace of mind knowing that after church they will be going to their homes,” he said.

Anglican Church housing project chairperson Reverend Barnabas Munzwandi explained that the land is divided into medium- and low-density areas.

“In the medium-density area we have 101 hectares of land and the stands range from 300 to 500 square metres, while in the low-density area we have 260 stands ranging from 2000 to 3 500 square metres,” said Rev Munzwandi.

Rev Munzwandi added that the Norton Town Council had finished surveying the entire area and that construction had already started.

Those in the low-density area had already acquired agreements of sale while those in the medium-density received memoranda of agreement and are waiting for agreements of sale.

“The Archbishop’s idea is to assist people who desperately need residential stands. At first, a number of people were sceptical about this project mainly because they had been duped or they knew of someone who had lost money to land developers. As a church, we tried to be as transparent as we could be.

“This has worked well because everyone who participated is happy,” he said.

One of the stands beneficiaries and member of the Anglican Church, Ms Sinodia Makore, said the project came as a blessing as she had been duped twice by bogus land developers.

“I had no hope of owning a house after the death of my husband. I lost thousands of dollars trying to get a stand; some of the cases are before the courts.

“I thank God for Baba Bishop Gandiya. He was raised by God to lead and to help us. Even if I die today I know that my children will have somewhere to stay,” she said.