Mat South Minister goes on anti-graft crusade

THE Minister of State for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs, Cde Abednico Ncube has warned of strong action against elements who are hindering Government programmes in his province.

Addressing heads of government departments and local authorities during a Matabeleland South Provincial Development Committee meeting on Monday, Cde Ncube said the province was experiencing a lot of corruption especially from lands officers and Government officers that were allocating land illegally.

“We won’t be tolerating any form of corruption within the province anymore as it has been hampering development. There has been a lot of corruption over the past years from lands officers and senior government officers that have been allocating land in a corrupt manner.

“There are cases like in Insiza District where people were being given land illegally until they became overcrowded. In Insiza we have a surplus of over 3 000 people that were not supposed to be settled there in the first place. When land is being allocated government officers are supposed to follow and adhere to the carrying capacity,” he said.

Cde Ncube said police would be engaged to carry out investigations.

He also urged Government workers to provide effective service delivery to communities.

“I won’t say for now how we will deal with these corrupt officers but you will be informed in due course. Let’s work together as Government departments towards developing our province and let us leave political agendas or grudges out of our line of business. I expect each and every department to deliver as expected.

“To REA (Rural Electrification Agency) we expect rural communities to be electrified, to social welfare we expect food security, to the Department of Lands we expect order to be retained and people must be properly settled. Each department is aware of their line of duty and as Government we expect effective service delivery from you,” he said.

Cde Ncube said the new Government was development oriented and as such departments that were lagging behind in providing services were expected to improve.

He said plans were underway to secure investors that would fund various development projects within the province. He said there was a need for irrigation schemes to be revived and new dams to be constructed while existing ones had to be repaired.

“We have a new political dispensation and under it Government workers are expected to deliver. Let us support our new President as he works towards improving and elevating this nation,” he said.—@ DubeMatutu.