Story by John Nhandara
BENEFICIARIES of the Madokero Housing project spearheaded by the Public Service Pension Fund are grateful to the government for incentivising them through housing provision, as the country works on reducing the national housing backlog.
About 15 kilometers west of Harare’s Central Business District stood an idle piece of land which has since been transformed into a shopping complex and a modern gated housing complex courtesy of the Public Service Pension Fund.
The beneficiaries are civil servants who have expressed gratitude to the government for ring-fencing their pension contributions through investing in housing schemes.
“I am happy to be a beneficiary of this project and it helps to motivate public service officers,” said a civil servant.
Another said, “I was staying in Chitungwiza and am happy to relocate to a place like this. I am grateful to the government.”
The project also created employment opportunities for locals, providing an architectural marvel of 148 detached and semi-detached units for rental and purchase.
Public Service Commission chairperson, Mr Vincent Hungwe said, “Madokero project exemplifies the commitment of the Second Republic to a dignified retirement for its workers. This project comprises 148 detached and semi-detached units for rental and purchase. It consists of modern architectural designs and 1200 people were employed. This project was built with locally sourced components.”
The housing scheme and shopping complex are part of the Public Service Pension Fund’s medium to long-term investments in infrastructure.
“Since 2018, all contributions were put into a fund which must invest into medium to long-term assets such as this one. Housing is a proper way of restoring value where the Public Service Pension Fund is investing in. It needs prudence to invest correctly,” said the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Honourable July Moyo.
The Madokero Creek Housing Complex also speaks to the government’s commitment to reducing the housing backlog.
The Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities Honourable Zhemu Soda said, “In 2020, the President launched a policy on national human settlements and under that policy, there was an acknowledgement of a deficit in housing. Today’s event is a huge contribution to reducing the deficit of houses in the country.”
The Public Service Pension Fund was established in 2018 to provide financial security and retirement benefits for government workers and ring-fencing pension contributions for government workers.
