Paul Nyathi
Thokozani Khupe’s loosing Harare Mayorship candidate has been exposed by state media for deliberately instructing a council official to withdraw land offer to a ZANU PF linked housing scheme.
Councillor Luckson Makunguma, council’s finance committee chair, who recently lost mayoral election to Nelson Chamisa’s candidate Jacob Mafume, is alleged to have used his position to allocate stands to female associates and to change land use in connivance with council workers.
In a letter dated March 12, 2015, to the director of corporate services, the MDC councillor wrote: “I hereby write this letter giving instructions on the allocation of stands on the attached draft layout plan awaiting approval by the city planner and local councillor. I direct that the stands be allocated to Blue Star Housing Pay Scheme instead of the invading Vision Ladies Housing Cooperative,” read the letter in part.
This is despite the fact that Vision Ladies, which was formed in 2013, had made an application for the land to the former director of corporate services, Josephine Ncube
On August 9 2018, Vision Ladies Housing Cooperative, through its project coordinator, Moffat Siwizani, wrote a letter to Nhekairo appealing for the cancellation of the offer letter to Blue Star.
Part of the letter read: “We suspect that the offer letter (to Blue Star) was fraudulently issued. Blue Star Housing Cooperative was told to bring council resolutions but until now, they have not forwarded the council resolutions for them to pay for the land.
“We hereby call upon your respectable office to carry out investigations and bring to book the culprits who are after tarnishing the good image of local authority,” said Siwizani in the letter.
Marara, who is on bail pending trial on corruption charges, is accused of illegally allocating 20 stands to Blue Star Housing Cooporative.
“Kindly be advised that council allocated 20 unserviced residential stands to Blue Star Housing Pay Scheme under employer-assisted housing pay schemes. Blue Star Housing Pay Scheme is under the leadership of one Mr Jackson Makarichi and Mr Gerald Zumbika.
“Kindly assist them in facilitating the implementation of the requisite infrastructural services falling within your purview,” reads part of a letter Marara wrote to Harare’s works department .
In a letter to the chairperson of the Health Education, Housing, Community Services and Licensing Committee on August 2, 2017, Mukunguma admonished his fellow councillor Regis Masunda, for allocating stands to Probation Infill Housing Scheme in ward 25.
“I have it on good record that the said housing scheme is led by senior Zanu PF official Moffat Siwizani and that Probation Housing Scheme was previously called Vision Ladies, an outfit then led by one Haruwandi Munyawiri, again a senior Zanu PF official. That being so, it appears you are working in cahoots with Zanu PF to undermine our party agenda and electoral gains.
“It boggles the mind why a fellow party member would devote his energies derailing the revolutionary cause of our party, the MDC. Although I acknowledge that Probation Infill Housing Scheme invaded the land in 2014, I implore you to urgently withdraw recommendations you made on August 29, 2017, which resulted in Probation Infill Paying Housing Scheme benefiting from your dereliction of duty. Should you fail to withdraw the said recommendations, I have no option other than fuelling your disqualification from standing as a councillor for your current ward or any political office in harmonised elections under MDC ticket.”
Source: State Media