adminAbel Zhakata Senior Reporter
FRAUDULENT double stand allocations at the Gimboki South Housing Scheme in which more than 5 000 beneficiaries are feared to have lost a fortune are spilling into the courts of law with feuding parties wrangling over ownership of the un-serviced stands.
Those following events at the restive housing scheme said last week’s court application by a woman who is seeking protection from a man claiming to own a stand she also claims to be hers is just a tip of the iceberg.
They said more lawsuits were to follow, while in-fighting was the order of the day as beneficiaries clashed over double allocations.
An executive member of the Mutare Housing Consortium who requested anonymity said the situation had turned into a free for all.
Crooks, said the member, were busy parceling out stands to people who are not on the initial beneficiaries’ list, pocketing thousands of dollars in the process.
This has set the new stand owners on a collision course with bonafide beneficiaries who joined the scheme in July 2007 when it began.
Last Friday, Anna Mambwerere dragged Herbert Masvande to the Mutare Civil Courts seeking a protection order against him on allegations that he was trying to displace her from her residential stand.
She told the court that she joined the scheme in 2008 and moved to stay on the un-serviced piece of land two years later.
Surprisingly, she said, on May 10 this year, Masvande came to her stand and erected a security fence. “He came with a group of men in my absence and erected a security fence claiming that the stand was his. When I reported to the police he didn’t come to explain what was happening.
“After two days he came to destroy my windowpanes. I have title deeds which show that the stand is mine as well as an agreement of sale. What he did is illegal and cruel and I pray that the court grant me a protection order,” she said.
Masvande objected saying he also had papers that show that the stand in question was his.
“I also have title deeds to the same stand number and on top of that I also have an agreement of sale. I am the one who bought the stand first. So I oppose to the protection order. I do admit that I broke her windowpanes, but I did that after she destroyed the fence I had erected,” said Masvande.
The presiding magistrate, Mrs Yeukai Chigodora, granted the protection order in the interim waiting for the Mutare City Council and other parties involved to resolve the matter.
The consortium executive member said there were no controls at the housing scheme as some influential people were taking money from unsuspecting home-seekers, allocating them stands that belong to other people.
“The local authority must intervene quickly before a lot of people lose thousands in this broad daylight robbery that is taking place at Gimboki.
“The police must be called in to investigate because desperate people are being milked. In the end people will take each other to court over ownership of the stands because of these double allocations that are being fuelled by greedy.
“That land belongs to Mutare City Council and bona fide beneficiaries of those stands are the ones who started with the scheme in 2007.
“Those who are boarding the bus late are just wasting their money and time. Crooks will always abuse their desperation.”
Efforts to get a comment from Town Clerk, Mr Obert Muzawazi, were fruitless at the time of going to Press, while the director of Housing and Community Services Mr Sternard Mapurisa, said those parcelling out the stands without council approval were criminals.
“I cannot say much about what is happening at the scheme right now because I have not been briefed.
“It’s best to contact the leadership of the consortium, but what I can tell you is that people who are pocketing money and parcelling out the stands without council approval are creating problems for themselves.”
Early this year, the Mutare City Council said it would only take over the chaotic housing scheme after members of the consortium account for missing millions of dollars paid by beneficiaries since July 2007 when the project began.
Beneficiaries have since demanded a forensic audit of the scheme amid allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funds.
Mr Muzawazi said then it was suicidal for the local authority to jump and take control of a project that is riddled with allegations massive funds embezzlement and corruption.
“Yes, as council we want to help out beneficiaries and ensure that they get their stands, but we cannot jump to take control of books that are not audited.
“We want a thorough forensic audited to be carried out in order to ascertain how much has been paid by members since 2007. Those who took people’s money must come out clean and we need to know how much was misappropriated.
“When that happens we will call the police and arrest thieves. That audit, which must be done before council can chip in, must provide the list of bona fide beneficiaries who joined the scheme in 2007. These are the rightful owners of the stands that need to be serviced not incidences of double allocations that are happening on site.”
Online Reporter