Corruption blights house ownership scheme

Blessings Chidakwa

IT seemed to be a dream come true for 78-year-old Gogo Hilda Magombo of Majubheki in Mbare when the Harare City Council announced at the beginning of the year that it would be selling its rented properties in the suburb to sitting tenants.

Eligible beneficiaries included those who have been renting the properties for more than 20 years, or 10 years if they were council employees.

But for Gogo Magombo, the dream is increasingly becoming a mirage owing to allegations of deep-seated corruption blighting the process.

“I have lived in the four-roomed council property for 53 years, religiously paying rent, even after I was widowed in 2004,” she told The Sunday Mail.

“I was happy that finally I would own this home, but I have no clue on what is happening now and the process to buy the house is shrouded in mystery.”

Investigations show that some corrupt council officials are demanding up to US$200 in bribes to facilitate each sale and change of ownership.

Mr Chamunorwa Mushauripo, a Mbare resident, said the whole process seemingly lacks transparency.

“The procedure . . . is opaque and the council is showing no accountability or responsibility,” he said.

“The majority of residents are yet to receive letters from the council, even though it was said that all intended beneficiaries would receive letters here in Mbare.”

There are fears that only a handful of people with “strong connections” stand to gain from the exercise.

“Since the majority of people pay at the district office to secure a home, the entire process seems to be riddled with corruption,” he said.

“Additionally, it became apparent to us that the majority of the occupants were living in properties which they believed were rented and registered in their names. We were surprised to learn that this was not the case,” he said.

Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume told The Sunday Mail that the offer to buy the houses was valid until the end of the year.

“Disposal of rented housing is to tenants in high-density areas who would have stayed for 20 years and above,” he said.

“Eligible council employees would have stayed for at least 10 years. The offer will be valid up to December 31, 2024.

“As for low-density areas, it will be on a case-by-case basis. Where officials feel a case is deserving, then a report must be proffered to the committee.”

All suspected cases of corruption, he said, would be investigated.

Harare Residents Trust director Mr Precious Shumba said the way the Harare City Council is conducting the programme was suspicious.

“Residents of Majubheki are a good example of how the process to transfer the houses in not transparent. The houses were built during the Salisbury Municipality era. The City of Harare made a resolution to sell council-rented houses to sitting tenants.

“The key challenge raised by residents of Mbare is alleged corruption being instigated by a senior officer (name supplied) and a few housing officers allegedly demanding payments of between US$50 and US$200 in order to facilitate the sales and change of ownership of the houses,” he said.

He also said widows and orphans were the most affected as they could not afford to pay the bribes.

“In some of the cases, children and widows of the owners who were initially allocated the houses are being deprived of this opportunity due to their failure or refusal to pay the required bribes,” he added.

“One man in his late 50s was told he could not buy the house because he had not stayed there for more than 20 years, yet he was born and raised there.”

It is believed those who are unable to pay bribes now face possible eviction from properties that they are supposed to own.

When questioned about allegations of corruption in Mbare, the Harare City Council’s Mbare district officer, Mr Million Sambona, said:

“Currently, it is only the identification and verification process that we are undertaking. We haven’t commenced the actual selling of the houses. The houses are still to be valued by the evaluation department.

“People should be free to seek the correct information from appropriate authorities.

“The people demanding bribes might not even be from the council. Every beneficiary must clear his/her debt with the city council to be able to qualify to buy the house.

“If they have anyone demanding money from them, they should immediately report to our offices or the police.”

Another Mbare resident, Mr Samuel Mapurisa, said the scheme was a noble initiative that was at risk of being tainted if the authorities do not intervene to investigate allegations of corruption.

He said only a few people had benefitted from the programme, which was worrying.

“Why is this so, especially when this programme was supposedly meant for all sitting tenants in our area?” he questioned.