KWEKWE Central MP Blessing Chebundo on Wednesday opened a Pandora’s Box when he demanded that names of government officials implicated in the 1990s VIP housing scandal be released before Parliament.
SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER
Chebundo made the demand during the question-and-answer session in the House of Assembly, insisting that National Housing and Social Amenities minister Giles Mutsekwa should make public the report by a commission of enquiry that was established to deal with the matter.
“Can the minister (Mutsekwa) explain to the House the status of the VIP housing scandal of the mid-1990s where government officials and politicians were reported to have illegally benefited?” Chebundo said.
“If he can also make public the commissioned enquiry report by Mr R S M Hoza and confirm whether the culprits paid back the loans improperly advanced to them, and clarify whether there are still houses occupied by non-government employees at the expense of bona fide employees.”
Mutsekwa admitted that indeed findings made over a decade ago had not been made public.
“However, the detailed findings of the commission were never made public that time and up to now by the convening authority. What is on record is that the then Ministry of Public Construction and National Housing compiled a comprehensive debtor’s schedule which it handed over to the Civil Division of the Attorney-General’s Office for debt recovery,” he said.
Chebundo argued that some of the people who had been implicated were still in the government.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“Given that we still have some of the people who were mentioned then within the government today and bearing in mind that the country is trying to move forward with a clean sheet and do away with corruption, we need those names so that we build our future using the past and the present,” Chebundo added.
