Controversial cleric Uebert Angel‘s bid to acquire disused assets and land belonging to Chitungwiza municipality has raised eyebrows with allegations of underhanded activities being levelled against Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) councillors.
Billion Group – a company that is allegedly linked to Angel wrote to Chitungwiza Municipality seeking to acquire land and disused properties to convert them into a hotel, conference centre, shopping mall, service station and construction of a medical centre.
The proposal is before the Chitungwiza municipality which will decide on the proposed deal.
The proposal has attracted concern from the residents of the dormitory town.
Chitungwiza and Manyame Residents Association director Marvelous Khumalo advised due diligence and “not pursue self-serving deals.”
“It is bad that Chitungwiza municipality has continued making negative headlines especially on issues involving the alleged corrupt allocation and management of land and abusing the disposal of public assets. It is even worse in this instance that this recent alleged case involves ‘a man of the cloth’ Prophet Uebert Angel.
“Recently we saw Uebert Angel featuring prominently in another alleged scandal dubbed, the Gold Mafia. As residents, we wonder what the ‘man of God’ through his company can offer to a struggling municipality like Chitungwiza other than swindling it of its diminishing land.
“We urge the council not to pursue these self-serving corrupt deals that are meant to benefit a few connected elites hiding behind religious robes at the expense of millions of residents and ratepayers as well as the quality of service delivery,” said Khumalo.
Angel, was earlier this year embroiled in a corruption scandal which was exposed by Aljazeera with him at the center of laundering, allegations which he has since trashed.
An official at the Chitungwiza municipality said worry over the proposal is premature as the councillors have not made a decision yet.
“Where a company or an institution comes to express interest, a council meeting is called the company presents. It is not the duty of the council to find out whose company has expressed interest as it would be discriminatory based on political lines. When a company expresses interest the idea can be adopted or rejected,” said the official. NewZimbabwe