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ACTING Harare Town Clerk, Phakamile Moyo, and Councillor Happymore Gotora appeared in court yesterday on charges of criminal abuse over commercial stands allocated to senior Council officials.
Moyo and Gotora appeared before magistrate Vongai Guwuriro charged with three counts of criminal abuse of office as public officers.
Moyo was ordered to return to court on April 5 on free bail pending his application challenging placement on remand. Gotora was granted $100 000 bail and ordered to return to court on May 18. Allegations are that on June 17 last year, Moyo, acting in connivance with Godfrey Kusangaya, who is still at large, generated policy without lawful authority. The move was meant to benefit senior Council employees and Councillors at the expense of Harare ratepayers.
On the same day, Moyo allegedly directed the Finance Department, through a memorandum dated June 17, 2022, to start identifying residential and commercial stands for the executives in line with the resolution made by the Executive Management Committee, as a matter of urgency, and within 14 days.
Moyo and Kusangaya allegedly used the unlawfully created policy to benefit themselves by allocating each other Council stands.
It is alleged that they made a series of reports on various dates and allocated 14 senior Council employees, 14 Councillors and a Member of Parliament stands.
In the reports, Moyo allegedly recommended the waiver of provisions of Item3 (3) of the Land Alienation Sub Committee Resolution dated September 26, 2005, as adopted by item 16 of the Full Commission resolution of September 29, 2005, subject to Section 152 of the Urban Councils Act Chapter 29:15. It prohibited them from gaining possession of Council commercial stands without advertising and going to tender.
The reports also allegedly indicated that the applicants were indigenous people who were promoting empowerment and that they had agreed to pool resources with no cost to Council.
This was not true as they were Councillors and Council employees.
It is alleged that they then presented their recommendation to the Finance and Development Committee. It adopted the recommendations on November 14 last year and December 14 last year.Gotora, as a member of the committee. Gotora, allegedly connived with Maxwell Dutuma, Gilbert Thamsanga Hadebe, Stanley Manyenga, Costa Mande, Loveness Gomba and Ian Muteto Makone, who are all Harare Councillors and members of the Finance and Development Committee.
Acting on the Finance Department lease reports, allegedly unlawfully originated by Moyo and Kusangaya, they allocated industrial stands without advertising and going to tender.
They also allegedly recommended the allocation or lease of industrial stands to 33 companies of which three of them, Mashilk Publications, Dep Enterprises and Super Creek (Pvt) Ltd, were not registered with the Department of Deeds of Companies and Intellectual Property.
The court also heard that they unlawfully allocated stands to 14 senior Council employees as a condition of service.
Online Reporter