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Daniel Kachere Herald Correspondent
Over 3 700 Caledonia residents who were on the verge of losing their residential stands, have been thrown a lifeline after land owner Cde Paddy Zhanda allowed them to stay, Zanu-PF MP for the area Cde Terrence Mukupe said yesterday.
He revealed this while addressing members of cooperatives under Nhaka yeMadzitateguru Edu consortium in Caledonia and instructed them to do an audit to establish how much each of them paid.
Cde Mukupe said the audit would be conducted to iron out issues of double allocations and bring transparency for all payments made by the residents to the consortium.
This comes after the families were left homeless last week after their homes were razed down at Caledonia Farm following a High Court ruling that the structures were built illegally.
“Everyone must be on his or her stand this Saturday, a team will be on the ground to start these audits that will bring transparency in the allocation and payments of land that were done in this area,” he said.
“Cde Paddy Zhanda said he had no problem with you occupying the land as long as it was done lawfully in an organised and accountable manner.”
Cde Zhanda, who is the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development responsible for livestock, confirmed the latest development yesterday.
“It is an understanding we made that they must stop developing the land and wait until proper planning has been implemented. After the land has been developed and approved by relevant authorities, then we will consider those on the list that they are compiling. We will give them first preference as long as they can afford to pay,” said Cde Zhanda.
Cde Mukupe warned land barons that were continuously demanding money from the residents to stop forthwith. He said if they continued, law enforcement agents would arrest them. Almost all the families had bought 300 square metre stands from the consortium. At least 50 land barons were arrested in Harare when Government cracked the whip as it moves to restore sanity in the property sector.
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