Harare, Zimbabwe | As the High Court recently delivered a landmark ruling compelling President Emmerson Mnangagwa to release the long-suppressed $3 Billion Land Audit Report, the ghosts of Harare’s past are beginning to haunt the corridors of power. At the heart of this decade-long saga of greed and state capture is one name that has become synonymous with the “Great Land Heist”: Augur Investments.
For years, the Dumba Report—the original 2010 investigation into Harare’s land scandals—was ignored, suppressed, and its authors persecuted. Today, as the nation demands transparency over the $3 billion in lost assets, we revisit how Augur Investments and a syndicate of elite politicians turned the City of Harare into a private real estate buffet.
Augur Investments: The “Middleman” with Midas Touch
The 2010 investigation, led by Councillor Warship Dumba, unmasked Augur Investments not as a developer, but as a “middleman” that successfully siphoned nearly 100 hectares of prime Harare land without delivering on its primary promises.
Under the guise of the Airport Road Dualisation project, Augur was paid in vast tracts of land—transferred to a fleet of shelf companies including Yellow Seat, Home Villa, and Ice Class. Yet, the report found that Augur breached its contract from the onset:
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The Phantom Machinery: Augur was legally required to provide its own equipment. Instead, it sub-contracted Power Construction SA, effectively acting as a broker between the City and the actual builders.
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The $87 Million Price Tag: Without a single public tender, the project’s cost ballooned from an initial estimate of $60 million to a staggering $87 million.
The “Chombo Syndicate”: Clearing the Path for Looting
Augur didn’t act alone. The investigation details a “Strategic Purge” orchestrated by former Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo. To ensure the land grab faced no resistance, Chombo allegedly masterminded the removal of honest technocrats like Engineer Zvobgo and Housing Director Numero Mubaiwa.
In their place, Chombo installed a “Shadow Board” of loyalists:
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Michael Mahachi: Doubled as an appointed Councillor (custodian of land) and the Project Manager for Augur Investments.
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Psychology Chiwanga: A former Ministerial staffer elevated to head Urban Planning, who became the primary “signing officer” for Augur’s land titles.
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Tendai Mahachi: The Town Clerk who sat as a director of Sunshine Development—the very company he was supposed to regulate on behalf of the city.
The “MSA” Code: The Secret Language of Corruption
The most damning discovery was the creation of the “MSA” (Municipal Sales Agreement) title code. This parallel administrative system was designed to bypass the Mayor’s signature and avoid the scrutiny of the City Valuation and Estates Management (CVEM) office.
By using “MSA” titles, the syndicate could issue deeds in the middle of the night—specifically on the eve of the 2008 Harmonized Elections. These properties, including Stand 61 Helensvale (seized by Chombo himself), effectively became “tax-free zones” where no rates, water, or sewage charges were ever paid to the Council.
Why the Report Was Ignored: The Price of Silence
When the Dumba Committee presented these findings in 2010, the reaction from the Ministry was not a crackdown, but a cover-up. The report was suppressed, and the authors faced intense political pressure.
Ignatius Chombo allegedly threatened the entire Council with dismissal if they attempted to reinstate the fired directors who had blown the whistle. The loot—which included Warren Hills Golf Course and Hopley Farm—remained in the hands of the elite, while the “money burning” era allowed them to pay for prime real estate with depreciating Zimbabwean dollars or, in the case of CBZ, with a fleet of Mazda BT50 trucks.
The Road to 2026: The $3 Billion Reckoning
The recent court ruling forcing the Presidency to release the latest Land Audit Report suggests that the scale of the looting has grown from the millions reported in 2010 to a staggering $3 billion.
The names mentioned in the original Dumba Report—Augur Investments, Ken Sharpe, Ignatius Chombo, and Michael Mahachi—remain central to the narrative of how Zimbabwe’s urban future was mortgaged for private gain.
The question for 2026 is no longer how they did it, but who will be held accountable. As the $3 Billion Report moves toward the public eye, the “Middleman” tactics of Augur and the “Shadow Government” of the 2000s are finally coming under the spotlight of justice.
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