In September the council invited tenders for the lease of 52 shops which the previous Zanu (PF)-dominated council had leased to its supporters. Chombo immediately ordered the council to withdraw the tender, insisting that it sell the shops to the sitting tenants.
“If you remove those people I will fight the move. I will fight you even if you use the legal channel,” Chombo told councillors last week. The deputy mayor, Amen Mpofu, said council would not be bothered by Chombo’s order.
“Those properties belong to the council and there is no way we can just dispose of them like that. We have heard that some of the people leasing the properties are being protected by the minister because they hold Zanu (PF) tickets,” said Mpofu.
This is not the first time Chombo has clashed with the MDC-T dominated council. In 2008 they fiercely resisted his attempts to appoint Zanu (PF) supporters as “special” councillors.
Post published in: News