Chinamasa blames ”corrupt MDC officials” for home demolitions

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ZANU PF political commissar Patrick Chinamasa says current demolitions that have left hundreds with no homes and vending stalls are a result of corrupt activities by MDC Alliance led local authorities.

Government has in the past few days ordered the razing down of structures built on undesignated land even though owners of the properties claim home building had been sanctioned by the relevant authorities.

Similarly, vending stalls in Harare and Chitungwiza have been destroyed.

MDC Alliance, which dominates the authorities in which central government has overbearing control, has blamed the demolitions on the Zanu PF led administration.

However, Chinamasa Thursday distanced Zanu PF from the on-going demolitions, instead, blaming its opposition rival for “corruptly” parcelling out stands to home seekers.

“MDC run-councils have been corruptly dishing out land. There is no proper documentation on how the land has been dished out,” said the Zanu PF top politician.

“The opposition party specialises in blaming all ills about urban areas’ challenges on the central government.

“Clearly, that is not true and l will take every opportunity in future to make sure that l correct the perception among citizens and you journalists.”

The former cabinet minister said he was not aware of who was responsible for the clean-up campaign but all he was clear about was the rot brought on local authorities by MDC Alliance.

“I do not know who is responsible for this clean-up campaign but what l know is that the chaos is due to the MDC government.

“All these developments happened within their jurisdiction, without any action to stop them whilst no proper planning was in place.

“They receive rates which should be going towards service delivery. Our major concerns of urban areas is the poor service delivery,” he said.

The former justice minister said, “there has been a serious dereliction of duty on the part of MDC and we as Zanu PF are now correcting the anomaly. Central government is now moving in to correct the transgression of the MDC run councils. Any development you now see in urban areas is being done by the central government.”

MDC secretary for local government, Sesel Zvidzai told reporters early this year that most officials within the country’s local authorities were Zanu PF.

While the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has arrested several MDC Alliance officials on allegations of corruptly selling state land, MDC Alliance places the blame on Zanu PF’s linked land barons who are being accused of running cooperatives in the city.

Many home seekers have fallen victim to the land barons who are alleged to be working with corrupt council officials.

A lot of cases of those arrested are still within local courts.

–New Zimbabwe.com