CONSTITUENCY UPDATE 03-30-2019
Dear Nortonians
This week in continuance of my pledge to push for the effectual ending of the land dispute in Kingsdale we had a delegation that went and appeared before the Land Commission in Harare.
This Commission, led by Justice Uchena, has been charged with investigating and identifying all state land in and around urban areas that was acquired and allocated to Ministry of Local Government as well as areas under dispute.
The delegation that went included Councilor Tachiona (Ward 12), Norton Residents Trust Chairperson Mrs. Museredza, ZANU PF Provincial Member and Kingsdale Co-operative Chair Mr Sibiya, Gaza Strip Chair Mr Masaraure, NORDA Service Delivery Head Mr Mzimba and personnel from my office.
*Land Disputes*
I have decided that Maridale, Marshlands, Knowe, Galloway must all appear before the Lands Commission so that they can lay their grievances before it for a comprehensive approach to the land baron issues in Norton.
People’s rights have been violated and they have been criminal tendencies and all this requires a holistic approach by the Land Commission which I’m very confident we will get since the Commission is an upstanding entity.
All who have bought stands illegally need to come forward whilst the chance is still there so that they won’t be bundled together with the criminals when the swift punch of justice descends.
In the meantime all those who are paying rates but without titles deeds should stop paying and the title deed holder/developer should be the one paying the rates. That is the law.
In fact they should be refunds to all those who have been paying rates and in pursuance of this the lawyers we have engaged will be writing to NTC to that effect. All those who have paid will be required to come forward with receipts of paid monies so that we craft a legal challenge for the reimbursement of funds. No one will be required to pay legal fees.
Councilor Tachiona has been fought in Council as he has fought for the people. At the end of the day people have the power and we must clean the rot at the NTC.
*Sub-division Permit*
Indications are that Maparahwe Properties is set to be granted another sub-division permit by NTC. This is a clear indication of a captured Council that is failing to run the rule on the land baron who has already failed to implement the requirements of the first permit.
Granting him another permit is a criminal endeavour that spites the residents who have been continuously paying for practically nothing.
Against this scenario its now a given that people will take to the streets in the case that Norton Town Council grants this subdivision permit. Citizens now have to stand up and we will demonstrate against the NTC until they get out of office. It’s criminal, immoral and unethical to continuously swindle the poor citizen.
*Compromised Town Engineer*
This past week they was so much ruction over the NTC Town Engineer who is completely conflicted and compromised in the case involving Killer Zivhu. She presided over a case in which she must have declared her interest and recused herself to maintain both her and the Council’s integrity.
Failure to do that has made her vulnerable to criminal accusations and she must either rescind herself or be suspended. Already there is a Director of Housing and 2 Councilors who are before the courts in cases involving lands issues.
Council needs to be impartial guardians overseeing land operations and respecting the rule of law at both ends. Allowing a conflicted individual to continue meddling in the case is both a criminal and immoral act considering all the people suffering due to that.
From this unhealthy situation prevailing its becoming apparent that NTC isn’t capable of dealing with such criminality despite our giving them a grace period to deal with it. It’s time we took our stand.
Demonstrations will be coming until something gives in. People cannot be expected to take everything lying down, being naïve and continuously getting the bad end of the bargain.
*NTC Document*
A further indictment of NTC’s dereliction of duty is apparent in their failure to implement what they noted in their own investigations and produced through a published document.
The documents notes all these wide ranging issues which I have been harping about.
Absence of a master-plan, bad water for people, developers owing over $5million, land being sold in a manner that isn’t transparent etc.
They have not implemented any of the things noted in it and when I call them out the accusation is that I’m playing politics. No. these are practical issues which are there and require attention as early as yesterday.
*Ineffectual Councilors*
The Councilors in Norton are also failing to step up to the plate and deliver as per their electoral promises and constitutional requirements. In essence and practice the Councilor is the father of development whilst the Legislator, of which I’m one, is supposed to be focused on the law making aspects.
However their performance has left a lot to be desired epitomised by the poor handling of the Community Share Ownership (CSO) Abattoir firm which has since been set up under Chegutu Rural District Council.
This absence of empathy and vision which has seen Norton losing more than 1500 job opportunities smacks of something that is worse than gross negligence of duty and inordinate politicization of very mundane matters.
Councilors as representatives of the people should come back to the people who voted for them and not exist in a separate realm where all they do is attend workshops, meetings whilst failing to meet and work with people. Progress reports are critical but nothing like that is happening.
I implore political parties to separate the time for politics and the time for working for the people. I have since written to MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa about this issue and the unfortunate act of his party’s Councilors.
Norton is poised for growth but it’s harder for it to grow with a cartel of corrupt Councilors defending their selfish interests. We shall use the power invested in people to demand good governance and to flush the system out. I will use everything within the law to iron out the system.
*Vendor’s Plight*
Notices have appeared warning vendors that an operation is coming to remove them from certain illegal sites. As I have stated before my position is that we want a clean, safe, orderly Norton but Council must be in the fore-front to make sure they have built the right amenities for the siting of the fish-market, green grocers and so on. They should by now be properly paved roads and pavements at the alleged legal sites.
More so Council has been taking money from these people whilst they sold their products from these illegal sites and suddenly they deem them illegal. It’s unethical.
So Council needs to do first things first before they jump into rash operational actions.
*Conclusion*
The picture from all this is very clear, NTC is conniving with a corrupt land barons and we as the people need to stand up for ourselves. I have declared war against land barons and will employ the full legal measures to see to it that people are not taken for a ride by a cabal of corrupt elites.
Hard earned citizen money has been abused in the acquisition of luxury goods whilst real criminals owing Council money have been allowed to go scot free. The time is nigh that we stand and be counted as a people who know their rights.
Regards,
*Hon. Temba P. Mliswa (MP)*
*Norton will never be the same again*
*#NortonDevelopmentCheteChete*