Minister Chombo should stop the rot

By Rawlings Magede

The song Mubikira by Leonard Zhakata best describes the plight or predicament that most hardworking home seekers find themselves in. 

In the song Zhakata laments the selective application of the law in a country ravaged by injustice and suppression.

He describes those who oppress and wield political power as insincere to the attainment of justice and equality. “For how long shall people keep quiet? When the elephants fight, it is the grasses that suffer, “he sings.

In the year 2013 I penned a story that was informed by the investigations I had done in the City of Gweru involving one Smelly Dube who owns a real estate company called River valley Properties, who donated a house valued at US$ 50,000 to President Mugabe.

The reason, as she puts it, was to honour and appreciate the president for the land reform programme and empowerment.

The company also gave more than 1000 high and medium density stands to civil servants and offered to provide building materials on a monthly basis payment.

Of course in the story I clearly said that the pledge by Ms Dube was celebrated in the public media of course to sell white lies to the citizens that she was advancing the causes of the general man while she infact was undermining them. And yes of course, Minister of Local Government Chombo was the guest at the handing ceremony.

In the article I gave several examples of people who were using treacherous political means to fleece innocent home seekers of their hard earned cash like musician-cum businessman Energy Mutodi etc.

These people have been dragged before the courts time and again but our courts seem magnanimous to criminals. In the case of River Valley properties there have been several developments that I thought I should share a year after I penned that article.

From my investigations and findings it appears deliberate on the part of Smelly Dube who because of the current demolitions taking place in places such as Chitungwiza and Epworth, is trying by all means to fortify her “business empire” that is being funded by the dollars of innocent home seekers.

Many desperate home seekers had to eke out an existence for the past years for them to achieve every man’s dream of owning property.

Some top politicians and top civil service commission officers, provincial heads of uniformed and general civil servants and a few in lower ranks in Gweru were given free stands. The majority of these have high salaries in the civil service with the capacity to pay for the stands.

This was done to give a misleading impression that River valley properties is a philanthropic indigenous company there to assist the homeless in line with government policies, yet the truth is that this was a way of bribing the top officials to make them cast a blind eye to the rampant looting and robbery and corruption which is currently full swing.

The majority and paying civil servants were offered stands at a cost of $15 per square meter making a 1000sqm stand cost $15000 for servicing only. The servicing does not include sewerage.

Paying at a rate of $100 (a 1/4 of the majority of civil servants’ salaries) per month a beneficiary with that size of a stand will have to pay for the incomplete servicing for 12.5 years. Those who got bigger stands will have to pay for as long as 20yrs.

Desperate home seeking civil servants under River valley properties made an extravagant whim completing misleading agreement forms by the involvement of a River valley properties office operating in the public works offices headed by a “partly” River valley properties and “partly” government employee known as the projects manager Ms Matilda Manhambo.

Why she is doubling as an employee of River valley or government employee, no one knows.

Phase 1 of a similar scheme which was done by Public works working with beneficiaries was completed in less than 10yrs and the servicing of stands even as big as 1800sqm cost less than $5000.

This therefore shows that Rivervalley made its name by pretending to have given some civil servants, politicians and close associates free stands yet they made paying beneficiaries pay for all stands and also made sure the company would get a profit.

The agreements of sales were so craftily designed and no one can withdraw from the scheme without substantially losing and refunds are not prompt.

Smelly Dube is building a mansion in the Kopje area while there is no significant servicing of the stands. The company also donates a lot of money in cash or kind to ZANU PF political events to maintain its “patriotic image” at the expense of beneficiaries.

What still boggles is why all this rot has continued to go on unresolved while Minister Chombo continues to cast a blind eye.

Minister Chombo has been a minister for a long time and over the years he appears to have an ear for sycophants and swindlers, those who run dubious and bogus land schemes or cooperatives have continued to take refuge under his fortress.

Property rights are enshrined in the new constitution and the Minister doesn’t appear moved.

Even during the on-going demolitions that have taken place, he hasn’t even bothered to do a land audit of how those home seekers got the land. What I know for a fact is that these home seekers just didn’t start building houses from nowhere but they got land from these people who are affiliated to the Minister.

What is the Ministers mandate when he has failed monumentally to defend the rights of citizens?

Now if the constitution guarantees property rights, who is Smelly Dube or Minister Chombo to bar citizens from exercising their constitutional rights?

Rawlings Magede is a rural political enthusiast who writes from Matabeleland North Province. Email [email protected]