Mushohwe denies owning three farms

By Farayi Machamire

Information minister Christopher Mushohwe, who denies owning three farms, says a government-backed housing scheme offers hope to thousands of jobless youths who are clamouring for land to develop their own houses to own homes.

Mushohwe spoke to the Daily News as both the government and Zanu PF are under pressure from ruling party youths who are demanding land to build houses.

“My view is that government should seek to build houses for people with complete infrastructure in place, rather than giving them a stand which they must service and build.

“And in an economic environment like ours, where people are finding it difficult to put food on the table, building is not always the top priority,” he said.

The government has set aside land in Harare and Bulawayo for Zanu PF youths to build homes, although critics say this is an election gimmick ahead of the 2018 elections.

“We can build flats and enable our people to own homes. Obviously, such a programme would need government partnering with someone, but it’s the way to go,” Mushohwe added.

He spoke as claims swirled this week that he is among dozens of senior government officials who stand accused of being multiple farm owners, accusations that he says are “completely false”.

Still, some Zanu PF youths in  Manicaland say he owns three farms, including Kondozi, which they claim he got during the time he was provincial governor there.

“It is not the governor that allocates farms. That is the sole responsibility of the minister responsible for land. The only farm that was allocated to me was Kondozi Farm in 2006, which is 1 100 hectares and most of it is taken up by a mountain range.

“I don’t own any other farm, contrary to reports and those malicious allegations that have been repeated for some time now,” Mushohwe said, adding that the allegations that the Zanu PF leadership had abandoned youths and were not supporting them financially were also misplaced. Daily News