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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
SPORT-LOVING residents of Epworth in south-eastern Harare are getting restless over the delay in the construction of the Olympafrica Centre amid fears that this project may suffer still-birth due to “a scam” involving the local authorities and the informal settlers who invaded the proposed site for this multi-million-dollar venture.

In June 2014, the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee signed a long-term lease agreement with the Epworth Local Board, which facilitated the sourcing of support to establish a multi-disciplinary sport and cultural centre opposite Domboramwari Secondary School.

The project is the brainchild of one of Epworth’s most illustrious sons, Musekiwa Kumbula, who approached the Epworth Local Board with the idea of setting up the Olympafrica Centre in the town before they got into a partnership with ZOC.

It (the project) was going to be funded by the International Olympic Committee through the Olympafrica Foundation and was to be be managed by ZOC and supported by the relevant local authorities.

And ZOC had already secured $150 000 of the $500 000 pledged for the project.

A ground breaking ceremony for the centre was held on April 25, 2016, but no work at the Epworth Olympafrica Centre has taken off the ground almost two years down the line amid revelations that some senior members of the Epworth Local Board are being “caught in-between” after they parcelled out stands to their friends and relatives on the piece of land that was earmarked for the construction of this centre.

In fact, construction has not started yet despite assurances that the informal or illegal settlers would be moved and offered alternative land to build their accommodation.

The informal settlers, who invaded this piece of land, were intially told to vacate it and were offered alternative places and they left only to return to the same place and this development has now stalled the construction of the Olympafrica Centre in Epworth.

With the impasse seemingly dragging on, the delay in the project getting off the ground is agitating sports enthusiasts in the sprawling suburb who are also accusing the Epworth Town Board officials of being invloved in a scam to parcel out the land and sell the stands.

What is also worrying the sport-loving residents is that the illegal settlers have vowed to stay put on the land.

The residents are now calling upon the Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission to come in and investigate members of the Epworth Local Board over their failure to take some decisive action over these informal settlers.

One of these residents, who preferred anonymity, told The Herald at the weekend that there were some people who were moved from that place and given alternative land but they went on to sell those stands and returned to the same site and now he suspects there might be “some fraud taking place” with the connivance of some corrupt members of the Epworth Local Board.

“We are now planning a demonstration against the local board and we are also calling upon the Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission as well as the new Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing (July Moyo) to come in and investigate this whole saga,” said the same source.

Quizzed on why it was taking long to build the Olympafrica Centre in Epworth, one of the area’s councilors, Elson Muhambi, could only say “politics” was stalling the commencement of this project.

Muhambi, however, did not elaborate.

Epworth Local Board Mayor, Tafireyi Murambidzi, was at one stage also quoted as saying their efforts were being hampered by some political forces despite assurances that 81 illegal settlers would be moved to pave way for the construction to begin.

Meanwhile, it is being rumoured that ZOC are now under some tremendous pressure from the IOC, through the Olympafrica Foundation, to return the funds for this project as nothing has happened since the ground-breaking ceremony was held in April 2016.

During that ground-breaking ceremony ZOC president, Admire Masenda, said the project, which was initially expected to cost over $150 000, would be completed in the next five years.

The state-of-the-art multi-sport and socio-educational facility was earmarked to accommodate a number of sporting disciplines including a basic athletic track, a football pitch, multi-purpose court — that’s for handball, basketball, volleyball and tennis — as well as a changing-rooms block.

It was also set to have a cultural component including offices for the director and volunteer staff, a youth foyer, a multi-purpose room to host conferences, concerts and shows, a library and workshops for practical work.

Zimbabwe was first included in the Olympafrica Foundation in 2009 through the Olympic Sports Centre based at Prince Edward School in Harare. Since then they have been benefiting from short projects that are run by the Foundation.

The first Olympafrica Centre was built in Senegal in 1992 and this was followed by the creation of the Olympafrica Foundation in 1993.

Such models are in existence in over 35 countries all over Africa and the Epworth project was set to be the first in Zimbabwe.