adminOliver Kazunga Senior Reporter
The government will avail 5,000 housing stands in Bulawayo’s five constituencies where by-elections will be held to ease congestion, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.
Addressing Zanu-PF supporters at Bango shopping centre in the Mpopoma-Pelandaba constituency yesterday, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister, Ignatius Chombo, said all its candidates in the forthcoming by-election requested housing stands to ease accommodation challenges in their respective constituencies.
“As Zanu-PF and government, we’ve taken heed of the call by all our candidates who requested that housing stands be availed to ease congestion in their respective constituencies. We’ve accepted their request and we’ll be approaching Bulawayo City Council to avail residential stands around the city so as to ease congestion in those constituencies. Each of the five constituencies will get 1,000 stands,” said Cde Chombo.
Bulawayo has a housing backlog of more than 100,000.
Zanu-PF seeks to reclaim all the five seats from the opposition MDC-T which lost them after some of its legislators dumped them to form MDC Renewal Team.
In the Wednesday by-election, the revolutionary party will be represented by Cdes Godfrey Malaba for the Pumula seat, Cde Joseph Tshuma (Mpopoma-Pelandaba), Cde Tshinga Dube (Makokoba), Cde Ntandoyenkosi Mlilo, (Luveve) and Cde Maidei Mpala (Lobengula-Magwegwe).
Chombo reaffirmed the government’s commitment to hand over rented council houses to sitting tenants.
He said through his ministry, the government had written to all urban councils in the country to give title deeds to tenants that have for a long time been renting local authorities’ houses.
“Three weeks ago, we wrote to all local authorities directing them to give title deeds to all the tenants who’ve been renting council houses. I can assure you that the tenants would be given those houses within a short space of time,” he said.
Online Reporter