RESIDENTS of Caledonia, an informal settlement on the eastern fringes of Harare, are accusing the Urban Development Corporation (Udcorp) of using underhand methods to force cooperatives to join its ranks, NewsDay has learnt.
Source: Fall-out over Udcorp turns nasty – NewsDay Zimbabwe August 29, 2016
BY RICHARD CHIDZA
The Zimbabwe National Co-operatives Federation (ZNCF) has also painted a shocking picture of how Udcorp has usurped the powers of housing cooperatives, “suspending the law” and operating “like a law unto themselves and in rogue fashion”.
“Udcorp is going around telling people to stop all cooperative activities. We think it is mischief of the greatest order and government must reprimand them,” ZNCF president Mike Duru said, adding the practice was rampant in Caledonia and Eyecourt along the Harare-Chitungwiza Road.
“Udcorp is also forcing cooperatives to deposit or transfer monies into its account in which they have no control. We have written letters to the Ministry of Local Government, but we have had no response.”
“Some of our members have been forcibly taken to army barracks and humiliated by an Air Commodore (named). The Minister of Small to Medium Enterprises (Sthembiso Nyoni) has not helped much and we also have MPs driving the Udcorp agenda and forcing people to join the parastatal. We have been going through hell,” Duru told a press conference at the weekend.
Zanu PF activist Jameson Rubaya claimed he was kidnapped and tortured by the top Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) officer. Efforts to contact the AFZ serviceman for comment were fruitless yesterday.
Rubaya claimed he reported the matter at Mabvuku Police Station, but authorities snubbed him.
“I was then arrested for public violence over some incident that reportedly occurred in Goromonzi. I am actually on bail. I have reported a case of kidnapping, but nothing has been done,” Rubaya said.
ZNCF lawyer Peter Mufunda accused police of being partisan.
Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said she had not been briefed about the alleged skirmishes.
Local Government minister and Zanu PF national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere has embarked on a nationwide programme to dole out residential stands to Zanu PF supporters as a vote-buying gimmick ahead of the 2018 elections.
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