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Municipal Reporter
Chitungwiza Municipality is investigating circumstances which led to some home-seekers being victims of double stand allocations amid claims of fake offer letters by a council worker.

An internal audit report last year revealed that councillors and council workers were conniving to create hundreds of stands and selling them to unsuspecting home-seekers.

Scores of home-seekers, who were victims of double allocations, besiege the council every day to seek audience with town clerk Mr George Makunde without success as he is said to be out of office most of the time.

Mayor Phillip Mutoti yesterday said the municipality was seized with the matter and had already suspended acting director of housing Mr Alfred Dube as investigations continue.

“We are aware of the predicament and where council made a mistake and sold the same stand twice, the affected party would get a replacement stand. There are, however, other cases where people have fake offer letters.”

“People might say the town clerk is never in his office, but he reports for duty. Also remember that he is the chairperson of town clerks Forum of the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe. He may be away on business,” he said.

Last year, the Metropolitan Bank Limited took the council to the High Court demanding $1,3 million in damages after council double allocated stands at Nyatsime Estate.

The bank paid Z$1,2 billion to Chitungwiza Town Council in respect of 78 residential stands measuring 800 square metres each for the purposes of constructing cluster houses.

When the economy dollarised, Chitungwiza asked the bank to pay top ups for the stands to facilitate servicing of stands.

The bank paid an additional $118 500 for servicing and $47 400 for surveying before being allocated Stand Numbers, 14596 to 14599, 14600 to 14623, 14626 to 14697, 14777 to 14778 and 15229 in Nyatsime area.

Efforts by the bank to get vacant stands have proved fruitless.

Investigations by the bank revealed that the stand sizes had been reduced from the agreed 800 square metres to 500 square metres.

The bank also learnt that the stands had been allocated to other people, who had since started constructing their structures with the approval of council.

A home-seeker also dragged the council before the High Court after it “illegally” sold a single residential stand to two people.

According to court papers, the council initially sold stand number 23394 Unit L Chitungwiza to Shelton Chimanya, before reselling it to Sekai Kashiri and her husband only identified as Mandiopera.

Kashiri and Mandiopera together with the Chitungwiza municipality are now the respondents in the High Court application.