Top council security officer in land scam

HARARE City Council’s chief security officer Collen Tongoona (53) has been arrested for alleged criminal abuse of office after he illegally authorised development of a housing stand in Marlborough without a certificate of compliance.

On Saturday, Tongoona appeared before magistrate Lazini Ncube who remanded him to next month on $20 000 bail and ordered him not to interfere with State witnesses.

Allegations against Tongoona are that in October last year, he violated the law when he wrote a “departmental memorandum” authorising one Coxwell Chigwanha to continue development of his Marlborough residential stand without a certificate of compliance.

Chigwana was allocated stand number 4941 New Marlborough, Harare, under council’s housing pay scheme policy on unserviced land.

“On October 21, 2020, accused unlawfully wrote a departmental memorandum authorising Coxwell Chigwanha to continue development of residential stand number 4941 New Marlborough, Harare, in the absence of a certificate of compliance in violation of Section 205(1)(a) of the Urban Councils Act Chapter 29:15,” read part of the document shown to News Day.

“The responsibility to determine which beneficiary should carry out housing developments and which should not is the duty of the department of housing and community services and not the chief security officer.”

Tongoona, it emerged, acted contrary to his duties as a public officer by authorising Chigwanha to carry out developments on the residential stand in the absence of certificate of compliance, thereby showing favour to him.

Tongoona joins dozens of council bigwigs and councillors facing similar land scams.