The Sunday Mail
Senior Reporter
The Chitungwiza Town Council is repossessing residential and commercial stands worth US$7 million that were fraudulently acquired or sold by its 24 suspended councillors.
The exercise, which began last week, also involves land that had been earmarked for cemeteries but was sold to unsuspecting property-seekers.
An internal audit in early 2017 outed the councillors as the chief architects of Chitungwiza’s bankruptcy, prompting Government to suspend mayor Phillip Mutoti and appoint a three-man commission to run the town’s affairs.
Top of the commission’s priorities is reversing all illegal land deals and holding councillors to account, with the possibility of preferring criminal charges against them.
Section 157A of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15) provides for independent tribunals to try cases of misconduct and law violations, among others.
Thirteen of the suspended councillors are from the MDC-T and the remainder from Zanu-PF.
According to a damning report that Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere submitted to Parliament last Thursday, the councillors committed “13 serious offences”.
The report, which The Sunday Mail has seen, alleges that the councillors colluded with the council executive.
Said Minister Kasukuwere: “The municipality has been marred by administrative and political problems for a number of years.
“The Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing tried a number of interventions aimed at resolving the challenges bedevilling the council, but Chitungwiza municipality did not listen and chose to continue with its destructive path at the expense of service delivery.”
He listed the charges: “Service delivery is virtually at a standstill, with heaps of uncollected garbage, numerous sewer bursts and blockages, little or no water supplies, as debts to Harare City mount, with no payment plan in sight. In addition, there is a complete lack of development control and little or no by-law enforcement.
“There is rampant abuse of council and State land, resulting in both councillors and their officials cashing in on large tracts of land for personal gain. Wetlands and land set aside for a cemetery have also not been spared as these have been subdivided and sold to unsuspecting home-seekers. These pieces of land have not been paid for. “There is a flagrant disregard for the Management of State Land Manual in allocation procedures, with no referral to the council waiting list, which is supposed to be the basis for all allocations. Many stands are disposed of without proper documentation.”
Minister Kasukuwere continued: “Council is releasing land allocated before the said land is paid for and the same land is then resold at large profits to individuals by council officials and councillors.”
“Councillors and staff have abused their offices to repossess stands from real beneficiaries. There is lack of systems; which creates a conducive environment for corruption. Even where cases of corruption are exposed, disciplinary action has not been taken.
“The council has, on several occasions, resolved to disregard the Urban Councils Act, including utilising capital funds collected under the estates account for the payment of wages to the detriment of servicing residential stands.”
Minister Kasukuwere said Chitungwiza Town Council had variably defied and ignored Government directives, resulting in unnecessary expenditure.
He cited a recent resolution to unilaterally increase councillors’ one-day travel allowances from the stipulated US$95 to US$300.
“The executive is reluctant to advise councillors who end up coming up with resolutions that are ultra-vires. Checks and balances are not in force since councillors and officers are conspiring in their illegal activities, thereby prejudicing council of millions of dollars.
“Communication with rate-payers has completely broken down, resulting in a continuous stream of persons coming to the ministry offices to lodge complaints. There is no other council in Zimbabwe that has faced so many demonstrations, which have resulted in council officials hiring security guards to protect them from angry residents.
“The council is technically bankrupt, and efforts to curtail unnecessary expenditure have been ignored. The council budget submission was turned down twice in 2016 and once in 2017 by the ministry in order to make corrections and to ensure compliance.
“The council has a huge workforce that is not working as there are no resources to equip them. Moreover, the workers have not been paid for the past 14 months.”
