Elsewhere on this page we carry a story about the Harare City council which has come up with a damning report about a serious land scandal that involves Housing Minister Ignatius Chombo and flamboyant businessman Phillip Chiyangwa.By now the two high profile Zanu (PF) personalities should have been questioned by police or detained in custody to let the police investigate the serious allegations which they are facing in the report. But alas, the police have been hauling journalists as well as Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) councillors who compiled the report, to the police station to answer questions over how the report leaked to the media. The mayor, Muchadeyi Masunda, was also summoned to the police station last Friday and police have indicated that they have not finished with him as they will call him to the police station again.
This action by police is clearly a waste of government and taxpayers funds because instead of catching the culprits they are harassing innocent people. The police actions are meant to instil fear in the journalists. They are intended to silence journalists as well as the councillors who compiled the report, so that corruption can go unabated. It is surprising how Chiyangwa has been allowed to take over the entire process. He even wants to sue for defamation and yet he is the one who owes the nation an explanation about how he amassed all his wealth and vast land in the city, at a time when most Zimbabweans are struggling to have a roof over their heads. It is further baffling why Chombo and Chiyangwa, who hail from the same home area with President Robert Mugabe, have not allowed the council to table its report and let the police handle the issue if they have nothing to hide.
It is in the public interest that the two should explain how they have amassed such enormous wealth in a country where half the population is battling to feed itself mainly due to poverty and corruption, particularly among top government officials. The two must be made to explain the circumstances in which they have acquired massive land in the city. It is no wonder that the police did not get to take the councillors to court on Friday as they intended because they are probably struggling to find a charge for them. It is high time someone stops this circus and allows the guilty to answer for their sins.
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga