The MDC maintains, that despite the withdrawal of criminal defamation charges against eight Harare councillors by Zanu PFs Philip Chiyangwa, investigations into allegations of corruption in municipal land deals should continue unabated.On Tuesday, Chiyangwa threw away his side show which he started after an eight-member commission implicated him in illicit deals involving vast tracts of municipal land which his companies acquired in suspicious circumstances between 2001 and 2008.
At the time, a Zanu PF commission, illegally appointed by the Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Ignatius Chombo, ran the affairs of the city.
When the council adopted the report of the investigating committee, Chiyangwa rushed to the police, claiming criminal defamation. The eight councillors, led by Mount Pleasant councillor Warship Dumba, were arrested, together with Muchadeyi Masunda, the Harare mayor.
Although the council filed a complaint and made a counter report to the police for investigations into the corrupt deals, citing Chiyangwa as a prime suspect, the police are yet to do something about it.
The stolen land is enough to build 500 000 low-cost houses.
The council report further implicates Chombo, for improperly acquiring 20 hectares of prime land at Number 61 Helensvale in Borrowdale.
For the record, the MDC does not condone any form of corruption in local councils. The MDC assures the residents and ratepayers that any illegal land deals and other forms of corruption anywhere in Zimbabwe shall be exposed and the perpetrators brought to book.
The land in Harare belongs to the residents not individuals.
Together, united, winning, ready for real change!!!
Post published in: Opinions