Online Reporter
Herald Reporter
The City of Harare has moved to enforce an order compelling Trip Trans Bus Company to vacate a piece of land in the Graniteside industrial area that another transporter, Ajara, says falls within its premises.
The development follows a request by Ajara for council intervention after Trip Trans allegedly resisted several calls to remove its operations from the disputed portion of land.
Ajara is currently undertaking construction work at the site and is understood to have approached council seeking enforcement of the boundary separating the two properties.
Council officials have since moved to enforce the order requiring Trip Trans to vacate the area, bringing to a head a dispute that had persisted between the two businesses.
The disputed piece of land is said to mark the boundary between the premises occupied by Trip Trans and Ajara’s property in the Graniteside industrial area.
Ajara had reportedly made several attempts to have Trip Trans move from the area before seeking the intervention of the local authority.
When The Herald visited the site, council had moved in to put enforcement measures. Trip Trans was also busy removing its fleet of broken-down buses from the once disputed piece of land.
On the site, bricks, sand and other construction materials were pulled signalling readiness to begin work.
“We engaged Trip Trans but there seemed to be resistance until we engaged council for intervention. We have left council to do its work,” said the firm’s owner Mr Ronald Ajara.
Trip Trans had not, at the time of writing, provided its position on the council’s enforcement action or the allegations that it had resisted requests to vacate the disputed portion.
According to correspondence dated August 28, 2026, the City of Harare’s Department of Urban Planning Services formally requested police security for an enforcement operation against what it described as “illegal encroachments” on Stand 40783 in Graniteside.
The letter, addressed to the Officer-in-Charge of Braeside Police Station, said the enforcement action was scheduled for September 4, 2026, and that the occupants had been notified but had failed to comply.
The department further advised that all necessary equipment, manpower and fuel would be provided for the operation.
The letter was signed by Mr Samuel Nyabezi, then Acting Director of Urban Planning Services.
In a separate departmental memorandum dated August 28, 2026, the Development Control Section and relevant stakeholders were also scheduled to carry out enforcement action against what the council described as “illegal encroachments” on Stand 40783 in Graniteside.
The memorandum, from the Acting Director of Urban Planner Mr Nyabezi, was also addressed to the Chamber Secretary and copied to the Acting Town Clerk and Harare Metropolitan Police.
It requested Harare Metropolitan Police security services for the operation, which was scheduled for September 4, 2026, at 8 am.
The memorandum said the occupants had been notified but had failed to comply.
