Land barons menace worrying: Kasukuwere
LOCAL authorities are losing millions of dollars to land barons who claim to own land while defrauding home seekers, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has said.
Minister Kasukuwere said the issue of land barons was a serious cancer that the ministry was dealing with.
He was responding to questions in Parliament on Thursday after giving a ministerial statement on the suspension of Chitungwiza Municipality councillors over corruption allegations.
“This is a serious cancer in our society. If you calculate say 13 000 stands being sold at $4 000 or $5 000 each, what would they give you? This is about $54 million and this is the amount of money that our local authorities are losing to individuals who claim to own land and sell it and it is indeed a serious cause for concern.
“If these land barons were to go unchecked, they can become a law unto themselves. They can become dangerous to the stability of our country. It does not just end with the land barons as we talk about them, but their network of criminals who are councillors and all the way to the officials,” said Minister Kasukuwere.
He said it was not only councillors at Chitungwiza Municipality who were corrupt but many across local authorities in the country. “We require a high level of dignity, honesty and integrity from our councillors so that we develop our cities. They have to assist in the process that allows us to create towns in the country. “I came to this Parliament last year and made a statement in terms of the three or four other new settlements that we are creating in this country, Umguza in Bulawayo, Chishawasha in Harare, part of Caledonia as well as part of Manyame and this is how things must be not for an individual to create a town of his or her own without adequate supply of water, roads and power. Land barons just pave the roads and collect people’s money,” said Minister Kasukuwere. He expressed concern over the maladministration in local authorities and called for permanent solutions. “The other issue is that councils are awarding their workers hefty salaries, more than the revenue that they are collecting. We need to be courageous in correcting this anomaly. “You would find that a starting salary for one of the council employee is $4 000 a month. This is what is prevailing in our councils. We need to put our heads together to come up with a permanent solution,” he said. MPs applauded the suspension of councillors at Chitungwiza Municipality, saying it was a progressive way of dealing with corruption. — @ pamelashumba1