Residents furious at Ministers latest abuse of power

Chombo shocked Zimbabweans last year when the staggering amount of property he owned was revealed in his divorce case. In addition to properties in the capital, he has interests in several farms, mines, hunting safari lodges in other parts of the country and in South Africa. Skeptics say there is no way a former university lecturer could have acquired such richness on his salary.

In 2010, Harare City Council launched a committee to investigate allegations that he illegally grabbed land in Borrowdale and Avondale. The committee was headed by councillor Warship Dumba.

However the Mayor of Harare Muchadeyi Masunda confirmed that Dumba and another committee member Casper Takura, had been suspended and the pair have sought legal action. Masunda was not in a position to give details for the reason for their suspension, but its been reported that Chombo is claiming they abused Council funds on a trip to Kariba.

Combined Harare Residents Association chairman, Simbarashe Moyo, on Monday said residents in Harare feel the Minister is abusing his powers to silence the investigation against him. He said, This is a clear case of victimisation. Because how can it be so coincidental that the people who are investigating someone end up being suspended over some trumped up charges?

Moyo went to say, This is just a way of trying to get back to councillors, trying to silence them, trying to make sure they dont proceed with the investigation they have been carrying out.

Masunda says it is inevitable that residents would come to the conclusion that the suspended councilors were being harassed, considering they were part of the committee investigating the Minister for misconduct. In a normal situation, the Minister would refrain against taking any actions, and let someone else look into it, and let the law take its action, he said.

The CHRA says, in addition to sending a petition to the Prime Minister about Chombos alleged misconduct, it has presented the details of Chombos misconduct to the police. Towards the end of the year we even wrote a letter to the police advising them to even arrest the Minsiter because we have overwhelming evidence of what he has done, Moyo said.