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Mutare councillors implicated in land scam

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Mutare mayor Blessing Tandi yesterday said councillors will not pay for stands they were allocated because the land has not been serviced, despite being implicated in a land scam.

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

Mutare mayor Blessing Tandi yesterday said councillors will not pay for stands they were allocated because the land has not been serviced, despite being implicated in a land scam.

A recently released forensic land audit implicated most councillors in a scam in which they acquired land cheaply, while others have not paid for it.

The land audit, which was carried out by the Local Government ministry from 2007 to March last year, showed that stands sold to councillors and some individuals were not correctly valued.

Eighteen councillors, from both Zanu PF and MDC, have reportedly acquired several stands, some of them at give-away prices.

Tandi, who is also implicated, said, as councillors, they have decided not to pay for the stands because they were undeveloped.

“Let me start by saying that when I was elected into this office, some people were not happy and I know they are still fighting me,” he said.

“If the former town clerk (Obert Muzawazi) gave us land, it was his own mess. Maybe he was not giving the council good advice. We have stands and we decided not to pay for them because they were unserviced stands on Beira Corridor,” he said.

“When we are in office, we need decent accommodation. According to the Local Government ministry, we should get stands. We took the stands in Beira Corridor to safeguard our rights in terms of the Constitution.”