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Yeukai Karengezeka Herald Correspondent
Chitungwiza Municipality has come under fire from councillors and residents over the resurfacing of space and land barons who are allocating vendors stalls in the same areas which it recently cleared.

Council demolished all illegal markets stalls and structures as part of its programme to restore sanity in the town.

Investigations revealed that vendors are already being allocated tables by the space barons especially at Makoni Shopping Centre and in Zengeza for between $300 to $700 per table.

There has also been concern over illegal houses that continue to mushroom under council’s watch.

The issues came up during a recent full council meeting when Cllrs Jabulani Mtunzi and Peter Matienga asked management whether the allocation of vending tables has already started and why people are still paying $10 to be on the waiting list when councillors had stopped the practice.

Town Clerk Dr George Makunde said allocations had not yet started and that they had not been receiving the $10 payments for over a month.

However, councillors indicated that some council district offices were still accepting the $10 payments.

Residents also demanded answers on the issues via a WhatsApp Messenger platform for Chitungwiza residents.

Dr Makunde said the issue of illegal structures was being perpetrated by people seeking political mileage.

“The issue of allocation of stands in Chitungwiza has always been tainted with mischief emanating from some mistaken application of borrowed power and authority. Some sections of society has decided to politicise the development to the extent that they want to take over the planning function from council,” he said.

“As council we have never been spectators neither have we been willing accomplices in the illegal parcelling out of land.”

Council is battling to evict some land barons who are parcelling out vending spaces on land allocated to Econet Wireless to build a business centre in Zengeza 2. Dr Makunde said anyone who was against their decision to allocate Econet land was free to approach the Ministry of Local Government, or the courts rather than taking the law into their own hands.