HARARE - Fresh evidence implicating Ignatius Chombo This weeks issue of the MDC Changing Times newsletter contains a lengthy report of the shenanigans involved in the ministers attempt to convert the land to his own use.
Chombo alleges that he was allocated the land in 1995 by the then Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development. But there was no ministry with such a name at the time, although the date stamp on Chombos lease agreement says so. The ministry was actually that of Local Government and Housing.
This piece of land was donated to the city by a well-wisher, Walter Serocold Pell Edmonds, in 1954 and transferred in 1973 to the City of Harare – on condition that it could only be used as a public space.
Title Deed No.3662/1954 was specifically endorsed to effect the council ownership. For years, the plot remained in that state. Chombo claims to have signed a lease agreement with this non-existent ministry on January 2, 1997 and agreed to pay Z$6 301 rent per year. He also maintains he bought the same piece of land on January 1, 1997.
Chombo tried to sell the land to Alois Ndaziva Chimeri for Z$250 million in September 2003. But this could not happen as he was not the registered owner.
Records show that, over the years, Chombo persistently tried to transfer the land into his name, but failed. Correspondence dating back to June 2004, between the ministry (through the then permanent secretary Mrs R. Pazvakawambwa), Harare City Council and lawyers Honey and Blackenberg show clearly the difficulties Chombo encountered in wrestling the property from the council.
Among the lawyers concerns was conflict of interest, as Chombo, now the minister, was intending to change the land use for personal advantage. Further, the lawyers wanted a Capital Gains Clearance Certificate, Title Deeds and an Agreement of Sale documents Chombo did not appear to have.
Perusal of the documents shows that they appear suspect, tampered with or completely manufactured. A long and complex process of correspondence ensued over the next several years, involving countless hours of council staff and lawyers time.
On January 7 2005, the Town Clerk wrote to Honey & Blackenberg to proceed with the transfer. Further inter-departmental activity and mountains of correspondence continued, as officials frantically tried to regularise the transfer to Chombo. By December 2006, L. Chimba, writing on behalf of the permanent secretary, informed Town House of a suggestion of a land swap with another piece of land in an unnamed low-density suburb of Harare.
The saga continued once the council reverted to control of the MDC in March 2008. On November 24, 2008, the lawyers insisted on the fulfilment of the demands of the letter dated 11 April 2005, and requested an agreement of sale for the purposes of Capital Gains by Zimra, and consent of the City of Harare.
In February 2009, the lawyers demanded proof of payment and advised that Chombo risked a heavy penalty from Zimra, as he claimed to have sold the land in 2005 and did not pay Capital Gains Tax within a month as required by law.
On October 26, 2010, Chiwanga the man implicated in all of Chombos fraudulent land deals from previous investigations advised the city treasurer that Sub-division K of Ntaba, Glen Lorne, had had its use changed from a designated public space to a residential property. Not surprisingly, this letter is dated 4 September 1996.
The MDC and hundreds of workers in the City of Harare and in the inclusive government are aware of Chombos activities since Mugabe brought him into his Cabinet from a lecture room at the University of Zimbabwe in 1990s, says the Changing Times.
They are baffled as to why he remains in public office. For those who may be unaware, Chombo sits in the Zanu (PF) politburo as the secretary for land reform and resettlement.
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