Kasukuwere warns land barons, vendors
GOVERNMENT is concerned over fresh land invasions, especially in areas adjacent to Harare and will soon allow council to recruit more municipal police officers, as well as give them arresting powers to be able to deal with the chaos.
Addressing the media at Town House after the conferment of alderman status on Councillor Samuel Manyowa, Local Government, Pulic Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said illegal vending and pirate taxis were a cause for concern.
“Street vending is now getting to alarming levels; this is not correct,” he said. “We have to respect the ratepayers and shop owners paying to council for their legitimately acquired buildings.
“We can’t have a situation where someone has premises and someone is selling clothes right on the verandah. Such behaviour is unacceptable. We are ready to support the mayor in cleaning up the city.
“There is quite a lot of chaos that is slowly making Harare inhabitable, so we want to make sure that law and order is returned to the City of Harare. We are going to give authority to council to recruit more municipal officers, who must be well trained and must work hand in glove with ZRP to ensure that we timeously monitor and keep peace on our streets.”
Minister Kasukuwere said council should employ properly trained municipal officers, who were not scared of doing their work and Government would give them arresting authority to ensure that they were effective.
“Mshikashika has caused chaos in the city,” he said. “Their lack of etiquette, lack of discipline is worrisome. Lots of people are losing their lives because of the carelessness that is being exhibited. The young people running these kombis are just impatient and drive carelessly.”
Minister Kasukuwere warned land barons who were continuing to parcel land in and around the city, saying district administrators would help local councils monitor culprits.
“Anybody who will just decide to allocate State land or municipal land is committing a crime that is theft of public assets,” he said. “That is not acceptable and we are going to be descending very hard on those people who have taken it upon themselves to illegally parcel out land, selling to unsuspecting citizens and getting away with huge amounts of money.
“To politicians or whoever thinks they can be elected next time, we are not going to allow you to use these national assets and resources for personal gain.”