Govt yet to secure house for Ncube

Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau
Government is still searching for decent accommodation for Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Owen Ncube, who is still commuting from Kwekwe to Gweru since being appointed to the office in November last year. Cde Ncube’s home is in Kwekwe and since his appointment as the top Government official in the Midlands Province, he has been travelling to and from his offices at the New Government Complex in Gweru every day.

Last month, Cde Ncube hinted that the daily travels to and from work were tiresome and hoped to get accommodation in Gweru.

“I am still travelling from my hometown of Kwekwe to and from my work every day and I hope I will get accommodation in Gweru very soon.

“The last time I checked with the Public Service Commission they indicated that they had identified some accommodation for me and I hope it will be available soon,” Cde Ncube said.

In an interview yesterday, provincial public service inspector Mr Moses Moyo said they were still hunting for the minister’s accommodation.

“We are still searching for the provincial minister’s accommodation. We are trying to identify a decent accommodation for him and looking at making improvements on the house if need be,” he said.

Mr Moyo said there was shortage of accommodation for Government officials in the province and the commission was working on ways to address the challenge.

He said an official who had been tasked to look for alternative accommodation for the provincial minister was recently transferred to Harare.

“Generally, we have a shortage of accommodation for civil servants in the Midlands Province, but we are doing something to make sure that the Midlands Provincial Minister gets accommodation soon,” he said.

Initially, a house occupied by the Midlands provincial magistrate Mrs Pathekile Msipa had been earmarked for the provincial minister.

The accommodation crisis in the Midlands Province saw Minister Ncube’s predecessor, Cde Jason Machaya, who hails from Gokwe, completing nearly two terms while commuting to work from his farm in Kwekwe.