admin
Fidelis Munyoro
Chief Court Reporter
CHEGUTU Municipality is in the eye of the storm for parcelling residential and commercial stands to various individuals and companies not on the waiting list to the prejudice of majority prospective home seekers on the waiting list for more than a decade.
This has prompted Chegutu West Constituency legislator Dexter Nduna to demand clarification as to how the money that residents paid to be included on the waiting list was accounted for over the past 10 years to date.
This emerged in the case in which Nduna and Chegutu Residents Association chairman Tapfumaneyi are suing Chegutu municipality and Chegutu rural district at the town’s magistrates’ court for an interim order barring the council from collecting waiting list fees from Chegutu residents.
Nduna also want the council to be ordered to furnish him with various documents including financial statements and audit reports on how the money was expended because he want to use the documents to prove his case in the main matter, still pending at the court.
The legal process against the local authority was sparked by an outcry from residents over alleged council underhand deals and Cde Nduna said he has an obligation to ensure public funds were properly accounted for to ensure transparency in his Constituency.
In his court papers, Cde Nduna pleaded that he has information from his constituents that there is no accountability for the monthly payments made by those on the waiting list since 2009.
“Some residents that have been on the waiting list for more than a decade have requested me to intervene as several stands both residential and commercial, had been allocated to various people who are not on the waiting list,” he said.
Cde Nduna’s application is anchored on Section 298 of the constitution, which provides that public finance system must be directed towards national development and in particular Section 298(d), which stipulates that public funds must be expended transparently, prudently, economically and effectively.
Chegutu municipality claims to own Risboro farm in extent to 1000 hectares, which Cde Nduna argues that it should be considered for allocation of residential stands to those on the waiting list including other groups such as civil servants, war veterans, youths, artisanal miners and vendors.
“In essence these beneficiaries should not crack their heads looking for money to be included on the waiting list,” he said.
“If the council is not barred from collecting residents’ money for inclusion on the waiting list then the same problems and outcries from residents will persist,” he said.
It is estimated that the land in question was set for urban expansion and can accommodate close to 50 000 people thereby reducing the council’s housing backlog, which will also go a long way in improving council coffers as it will benefit more from rates and services payments from residents.
Online Reporter