More relief for residents Cde Chombo
chombo ignatius 19-09-12

Cde Chombo

Hebert Zharare Political Editor
GOVERNMENT has ordered all 92 local authorities countrywide to immediately surrender back houses and housing stands they repossessed from aspiring home owners who failed to settle payments accrued at the height of the sanctions-induced economic crisis.The councils were further instructed to extend payment periods and development moratoriums by up to 20 years to give hard-pressed people the chance to settle their dues.

Outgoing Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo yesterday said those who defaulted on payments were supposed to be given a grace period of up to 20 years to settle the arrears.

He said for the over a decade he superintended over most MDC-T local authorities, some aspiring home owners and elderly widows lost their properties that were in turn given to the opposition party’s supporters and councillors.

The directive to restore the properties to their owners was contained in the same letters on bill cancellations that were sent to local authorities last month, Minister Chombo said.

“We are saying you cannot repossess stands or houses from residents as local authorities because a person has failed to pay (rates and rent) or has failed to develop a stand within the stipulated time. It does not make sense. We have said (to the councils) give that person his/her stand (or house) back. Where will he/she get the money? We are saying give the person up to 20 years to pay the money.

“They said you did not pay so we are repossessing your stand or your two-roomed house. That is why we are saying give the person back his stand or house. A person had built a house on the stand and was saying if I grow my cotton or tobacco I will pay the remaining US$3 000 and I will get my title deeds. The people lost their properties,” he said.

All 92 rural and urban councils were last month ordered to write off debts owed by residents for rates and bills from February 2009 to June 30 this year following a directive issued by Minister Chombo.

The bills were struck off in terms of Section 133 of the Rural District Councils Act Chapter 29:13 as read with Section 303 of the Urban Councils Act Chapter 29:15, where councils were directed to write off debts in respect of rentals, unit tax, development levy, refuse charges and water and sewer fees as at 30 June, 2013.

And similarly, amounts owed by residents in respect of rates since February 2009 stand prescribed in terms of Section 15 of the Prescription Act Chapter 8:11 but most local authorities concentrated on bills cancellation only.

Minister Chombo said for the period he superintended over the MDC-T councils, he witnessed scores of people losing their properties that were later shared among top MDC-T officials in councils countrywide.

“A person would have bought a stand so that he would not be a tenant again and that person was made to pay the money over two years.
“Due to economic hardships induced by the sanctions imposed on the country at the behest of the MDC-T, that person failed to pay the money in two years. The councils then repossessed the stands and the people forfeited their money. We are saying give the people back their stands and houses.

“The economy is under pressure. Instead, the councils should have said those making efforts to pay lets extend the payment period. Instead, the MDC-T officials were taking the stands and giving them to their colleagues,” he said.

Minister Chombo said the people were failing to pay the money because there were no jobs since many industries, mainly those supported by agriculture collapsed because former finance minister Tendai Biti was refusing to pay farmers on time for them to produce raw materials for industries.

Minister Chombo said he delivered 700 tonnes of wheat two years ago and was yet to be paid because GMB was not given money to pay farmers for the grain delivered and was expected to pay paid back a loan with interest at a local bank.

He said it was unfortunate that most farmers lost their scotch carts and ox drawn ploughs to debt collectors.
“A farmer fails to pay US$17 over three years and they send a Harare lawyer to Zvimba at a cost of US$384 to collect a cart that they will leave at the growth point for auctioning,” he said adding that was the reason why the Government scraped the bills.

Commenting on the impact of the scrapping of the bills, Minister Chombo said most councils were going to benefit in the long run as more residents paid their dues.

“The schools were just opened yesterday and people have never paid during that time. January bills were paid in February and March after school fees and this is another term and they are not paying and that is understood. That money was not theirs and was not there. There is no company that has no provision for bad debt. They were keeping those huge figures in their accounts to justify some percentages they paid to their town clerks. So they cannot cheat me,” he said.

Some councils claim following the scrapping of the bills, their daily collection went down as people adopted a wait and see attitude anticipating that Government would cancel the June and July bills again.

Bulawayo council claim monthly revenue collections have declined by almost 65 percent from about $6, 9 million to around $2, 4 million following bill scrapping.

Harare City Council, which was reportedly owed about $400 million, has written off $330 million while Chitungwiza scrapped $40 million.

Harare City says it has recorded a 28 percent increase in revenue collected in the last 10 days of August compared to the same period last month while other local authorities are recording increases in revenue.

In an interview, the city’s director of business development and revenue collection, Mr Cosmas Zvikaramba, said during the period in question council collected US$2 553 837 in July compared to US$3 267 836 in August.
Masvingo town clerk, Mr Adolf Gusha, said daily revenue inflows into councils coffers were picking up.

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