MUTARE- Zanu PF government propaganda lies that all Murambatsvina victims received stands and accommodation under the 'unpopular' Operation Garikayi/ Hlalani Kuhle were exposed last week after this paper discovered that more than 25 families here are still squatting in a crowded Mushando beerhall in Sakubva.
Speaking at Media Dialogue and Engagement Conference organised by NANGO last week, Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Association Programmes Coordinator, Ronald Mutsambiwa described the situation in Sakubva as ‘inhumane and denigrating’ and appealed to relevant authorities to take action.
He urged the local authority to move in and assist the affected residents with decent accommodation or allocation of stands to build decent structures.
Mutsambiwa said by turning a blind eye to such a development was an insult and abuse of the poor. Simukai and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are some of the NGO, which have responded to this plight and moved in to assist the victims with blankets,
food and moral support.
A visit by the Zimbabwean at Mushando bar on Wednesday last week, indicated that a serious health hazard was looming as 25 families are relying on a single toilet, which also doubles as a bathroom.
“We have nowhere to go and we did not receive any assistance from the former government after it destroyed our houses during the so called Operation Murambatsvina,”said one of the squatters.
A local councilor who spoke on condition of anonymity said Operation Garikayi was politicized and only Zanu Pf card-carrying members were allocated stands and houses.
He said the houses were grabbed by senior members of the army and police who still live in barracks and leasing the houses to the poor. “People who grabbed houses at Operation Garikayi are leasing the houses to the poor at exorbitant rates. Only senior officers in police and army grabbed the houses while the poor were sidelined,” said the councilor, adding that there is need for an audit to weed out the culprits.
Post published in: News