Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere has accused both the ruling Zanu PF and opposition politicians of spearheading illegal land deals, which have seen thousands of residents losing their hard-earned savings.
Source: Kasukuwere blames political parties for illegal land deals – NewsDay Zimbabwe February 9, 2017
By XOLISANI NCUBE
Giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government yesterday, Kasukuwere said a number of MDC-T councillors and MPs had formed housing co-operatives, while abusing names of prominent political figures for their personal benefit.
“We have my brothers from the other political party, who have housing co-operatives and have named them Joshua Nkomo housing co-operative, Josiah Magama Tongogara, so that the whole thing looks patriotic. Some of the councillors are in the executives of these co-operatives, where they are land barons,” he told the committee chaired by Zanu PF MP Irene Zindi.
Kasukuwere said, government had stopped allocating land to co-operatives, as most of them were being used by politicians to swindle desperate home seekers.
The minister, who was joined by his deputy, permanent secretary and top management, said even those from Zanu PF were involved, singling out land developments in Norton.
Kasukuwere said, he had enlisted the police to deal with land barons, vowing no one would be spared regardless of their political affiliation.
He said through the Urban Development Corporation, the government had taken over housing projects that were being managed by co-operatives.
Kasukuwere said so far, the government housing development arm had managed to put order in Caledonia, Harare, although it faced resistance from housing co-operatives that had allegedly been fleecing desperate home seekers.
He said more needed to be done in Harare South constituency, where social infrastructure was lacking, raising the possibility of increased criminality.
“UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) has said if we don’t deal with Harare South, it would be a den for hard-core criminals in 10 years to come. We need schools, roads and so on and so forth. We have a number of initiatives that we are doing with the Ministry of Education, but more needs to be done urgently because children are just there, not going to school. It is fast becoming a breeding ground for criminals,” Kasukuwere told the committee.
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