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Ruwa
land scam
Thabani
Dube, The Zimbabwean
October
16, 2013
http://www.thezimbabwean.co/news/zimbabwe/68930/ruwa-land-scam.html
More than 5,000 unsuspecting
home seekers have been duped of over $1million and left in limbo
by Zanu-PF bigwigs who allegedly formed five bogus housing cooperatives
to invade the 598 ha farm known as Remainder of Hofmoor in Ruwa.
Top officials implicated
in the scam include the Minister of Local Government, Ignatious
Chombo, former Minister of Lands and Rural Settlement, Herbert Murerwa,
incoming Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development,
Petronella Kagonye, and Joel Mujuru, elder brother of the late Brigadier
General Solomon Mujuru. Kagonye, the new MP for Goromonzi South
Constituency, which encompasses Ruwa, was at the forefront of Zanu-PF
efforts to unseat the popular MDC-T.
According to investigations
by this newspaper the farm, commonly known as Solomio Farm or Eton
Park, was listed for acquisition in the early 2000s but later delisted
after it emerged that urban land could not be gazetted for rural
resettlement.
It was then acquired
by private developers Landela Safaris and ZB Bank to form Solomio
Farms (Pvt) Ltd with the Ruwa Local Board getting a 10 percent stake.
The developers planned a low density development of 637 stands of
half an acre and 15 stands of 6,000-7,000 sq metres.
In October 2012, Kagonye,
an official at the Ministry of Lands, allegedly drafted fake offer
letters to five cooperatives, with the blessing of Chombo and Murerwa.
These were Solomon Mujuru Housing Cooperative, of which Joel is
the Patron, with 3,000 members, Shingiriro Housing Cooperative (women’s
league), Totonga Housing Cooperative for ex-detainees, Vaduku Forum
Housing Cooperative for the youth league and Civil Servants Housing
Cooperative with 2,300 members. Kagonye confirmed to The Zimbabwean
that she approved the applications filed by the housing cooperatives.
“As residents and leader of the constituency in the capacity
of aspiring MP, we applied to the Ministry of Lands and received
a positive reply. It doesn’t matter whether it was signed
by me - I was only an employee,” she said.
Kagonye also confirmed
that her construction company, Gloria Properties, was granted the
development permit by Chombo. “We are only waiting for a Physical
Planning license before we start developing the 5,300 stands,”
she said.
“Chombo and Murerwa
came twice to Ruwa and told the people that this land was theirs
and they should not be worried and I have video clips to prove that,”
she added. Efforts to get comment from Chombo and Murerwa were fruitless.
The 5,300 home seekers
have contributed $1,1 million - $21 each over 10 months. An anonymous
letter written by a disillusioned member of the Mujuru Coop, who
claims to be a war collaborator, complains that the self-imposed
management committee led by former Ruwa Local Board Chairperson
Oswell Gwanzura was diverting funds for personal use.
“The living standards
of most of these committee members has dramatically changed overnight,
they have bought themselves new cars, while a lot of money is said
to have gone towards developing 400 stands and paying bribes to
government officials, after it became apparent that it was private
property.
The patron is threatening
us saying anyone who complains will be in for a high jump, since
he is highly connected with top officials,” says the letter.
Gwanzura dismissed the
allegations. “Nobody directly handles the money as it is deposited
into our Kingdom Bank and ZB Bank accounts and we only keep records.
One of the cars was bought for me by my children in South Africa,
and the one driven by Mujuru, he inherited it from the late General,”
he said.
In a latest development
Gwanzura was on Friday picked up by police for questioning. A police
source said that after the elections a fierce tug-of-war over the
funds had been waged between Gwanzura and Kagonye.
“He was questioned
for proof of a developing permit after he allegedly hired a private
company to make a 5km road and pegged 400 stands in the wake of
misappropriating funds,” said the source.
Gwanzura was not willing
to comment but Kagonye said: “The chairpersons of the five
housing cooperatives are now refusing to release the development
funds. We agreed that theirs was $1 administration fee and $20 was
for the developer.”
A Local Board official
who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Zimbabwean “This
saga is mere politicking. Chombo is aware that Solomio is private
land owned by Landela Safaris and ZB Bank. He agreed to the deal
in 2008 and our Town Planner is in possession of the approval letters
and council resolutions approving the Eton Park development plans.
This is contrary to the cooperatives’ plans to subdivide the
low density area into medium and high density suburbs against our
bylaws,” the source said.
Ironically, Chombo recently
told local authorities in the Harare Metropolitan Province, Ruwa
included that he was displeased by the mushrooming of illegal settlements
in the urban areas. “I would like to express my displeasure
on land invasions perpetrated by unscrupulous people who are forming
pseudo cooperatives and allocate both municipal and state lands
without authority from responsible institutions. I would urge innocent
citizens not to willingly submit themselves to the whims and machinations
of such extortionate characters,” he said on 26 September.
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