United Family International Church (UFIC) founder, Emmanuel Makandiwa, has given more time to illegal settlers on a piece of land belonging to his church congregants to remove the structures and their materials.
On 19 September 2022, UFIC secured a court order to demolish about 300 illegal structures built on the piece of land in Retreat, Harare South.
The land belongs to UFIC congregants for a housing scheme, Operation Nehemiah Housing Project.
The squatters were supposed to be evicted within 48 hours from 21 November when they were served with an eviction order.
However, Makandiwa intervened and stopped the evictions and demolitions to give the squatters enough time to remove the structures on their own.
This was said by UFIC spokesperson Pastor Prime Kufa. He said:
The Man of God implored us to consider the plight of the affected families notwithstanding the fact that they are illegal settlers.
He instructed us to ask the Sheriff to give the settlers time to pull down their structures and rescue their belongings.
He said he is touched by their situation and also felt the anxiety among our church members who are bonafide owners of the land, thus his bid to find a win-win solution.
Look, it is the rainy season, it’s really a difficult situation but the Prophet believes the temporary reprieve will give the settlers some time to find alternative accommodation.
The settlers told NewsDay that they were grateful Makandiwa considered their plight and desperation. | NewsDay