By Victor Fanuel
HARARE — Beleaguered and bellicose former permanent secretary for Local Government and Public Works Tafadzwa Muguti’s decision to freeze new council land leases under a sweeping public land audit reportedly cost him his job after President Emmerson Mnangagwa viewed the move as undermining his ambition to transform Zimbabwe into a 24-hour economy.
Impeccable government sources have revealed this.
Muguti, who was appointed permanent secretary for Local Government and Public Works on September 11, issued the directive on October 27, ordering seven local authorities to suspend new leasing transactions while auditing existing agreements involving individuals, companies and other entities.
Highly placed sources familiar with the developments told NewsHour that Muguti had unwittingly gone against his principal’s economic ambitions by introducing restrictions that threatened to frustrate prospective investors and commercial developments requiring access to council land.
The political fallout culminated in his replacement on November 11, with Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Martin Rushwaya announcing the appointment of Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa.
“In terms of Section 205 Subsection (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, His Excellency the President, Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa has appointed Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
“The appointment is with immediate effect,” said Rushwaya in a Wednesday statement.
Although the appointment announcement did not disclose the reasons for the change, sources said the land-lease suspension was a major point of friction, with Muguti’s administrative approach running counter to Mnangagwa’s drive to stimulate investment and economic activity beyond conventional working hours.
Muguti’s October 27 letter was addressed to town clerks in Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Gweru, Masvingo and Kwekwe, as well as Chitungwiza Municipality.
Titled Directive to Conduct a Comprehensive Audit of Council Land Under Lease and Suspension of Further Leasing, it sought to establish who was benefiting from public land, the legality of allocations and whether leaseholders were meeting their contractual obligations.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works hereby directs all the above-mentioned Local Authorities to undertake a comprehensive audit of all land owned, controlled, or administered by their respective councils that is currently leased to individuals, companies, institutions, cooperatives, or other entities.
“This exercise aims to establish a complete and accurate account of council land under lease, assess compliance with applicable laws, regulations, council resolutions, and lease agreements, and strengthen transparency, accountability, and prudent management of public land.
“Accordingly, you are hereby instructed to undertake a comprehensive audit covering, but not limited to, the following aspects,” read the directive.
The ten-point audit required councils to identify every leaseholder, verify agreements, examine rentals and outstanding debts, investigate unauthorised transfers and subletting, assess land utilisation and expose suspected irregular allocations.
Muguti also wanted councils to identify vacant and underutilised properties, establish whether beneficiaries were developing land for approved purposes and recommend action against those breaching their agreements.
However, it was the blanket suspension of new transactions that reportedly brought his administrative intervention into conflict with Mnangagwa’s economic priorities.
The letter ordered: “With immediate effect, all the above-mentioned Local Authorities are directed to suspend the processing and approval of new leases, the allocation of additional council land for leasing, and the execution of new lease agreements pending the submission of the comprehensive land audit report to the Ministry.”
“Each Local Authority is required to submit a comprehensive, verified and duly authorised audit report to the Ministry on or before 30 November 2026,” further read the directive.
The instruction effectively halted new council land leasing across the seven authorities, potentially affecting legitimate investors and developers alongside beneficiaries whose existing arrangements required investigation.
Existing leases were not cancelled, but their legality, financial obligations and compliance with development conditions were placed under scrutiny.
Muguti’s departure also followed a turbulent spell marked by confrontations over informal trading, demolitions and disaster relief.
His restrictions limiting CBD vending to between 6am and 6pm attracted criticism, while an incident in which he directed municipal police to arrest a disabled airtime vendor in Harare sparked public outrage.
His handling of relief assistance following the Masvingo hailstorm and his remarks about citizens purchasing land outside their ancestral areas further fuelled criticism.
The land directive, however, provides a different dimension to the circumstances surrounding his departure: an attempt to tighten accountability over public assets reportedly became an obstacle to the economic direction set by the country’s highest political office.
Pazvakavambwa now inherits the responsibility of reconciling the audit’s accountability objectives with the Government’s investment ambitions, including determining whether the November 30 deadline and suspension of new leases will remain in force.
