BY CHARLES LAITON
POLICE Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga has been taken to the High Court by 23 police officers, who are demanding either built-up houses or serviced stands following a botched police housing scheme in Hatcliffe, Harare.
The police officers, whose ranks and titles are not mentioned in court papers, recently issued summons against Matanga in his official capacity through their lawyers, Mupindu Legal Practitioners.
Matanga is yet to respond to the lawsuit.
According to the police officers, each one of them was asked to contribute towards the housing scheme when the programme to build houses for members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) was mooted sometime in February 2012.
The officers said in terms of the anticipated housing scheme and as the beneficiaries, they were supposed to receive built-up houses from the scheme and that once the mortgage terms and other preliminaries were concluded, they would be asked to sign mortgage documentation.
“There was an agreement between CABS Bank and the Commissioner-General of Police under the name ZRP Hatcliffe Housing Scheme that CABS Bank was going to build houses for the beneficiaries since the deposit was to be paid into the ZRP Cabs Bank account. However, this never materialised,” the officers said in their combined declaration.
“The plaintiffs (23 officers) had an undertaking to pay a total cost of $17 632,98, and to pay a deposit of $4 473 and monthly instalments of $202 for 10 years. The agreement also stipulated that members may pay deposits in excess of the minimum stipulated amount.”
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However, the officers said after paying their deposits in full, the ZRP did not fulfil its end of the bargain and, as a result, breached terms of the contract. The police officers said several follow-ups yielded no results.
