Local Authority

Gvt issues Gimboki residents 7day ultimatum

MARTIN MULEYA

MUTARE-Defiant land barons and illegal settlers who invaded Gimboki South I Dangamvura, have been issued with a seven-day ultimatum to back down from illegally parceling out land and stop erecting illegal structures before facing eviction.

The malcontents who allegedly include Zanu Pf Mutare District Coordination Committee (DCC) chairperson Binali Yadi and his other four executive members descended on the high-density suburb of Dangamvura where they were in the habit of parceling out land without Council approval.

These land barons were taken to court last year and released on bail and were suspended from the party in which they were using as their ticket to hoodwink desperate home-seekers by name dropping.

Addressing a gathering of Gimboki residents on Wednesday, Minister of State in the President’s Office, Lovemore Matuke who was represented by the Secretary for Presidential Affairs in the Office of the President Tafadzwa Muguti warned that government would not tolerate the illegal parceling out of stands without council approval.

“We were not invited to come here, we have come on ourselves because there are people who are initiating their own land reform programme.

“I am warning you that if you are part of that cartel resign as you have no authority to do that. We do not want to hear this issue of land barons currently obtaining in Gimboki.

“We have a programme of urban renewal and Manicaland was going to be the first beneficiary of title deeds in line with urban planning. We do not know where this spirit came from whereby a person thinks he can defy the President’s programme,” said Muguti.

In his welcome remarks Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Misheck Mugadza who was booed while addressing residents highlighted that the genesis of Gimboki problems was due to people who failed to follow the dictates of the law.

Mugadza pleaded with Muguti to forgive them assuring that City of Mutare was going to issue properly developed residential stands in Gimboki.

“People in this area need residential stands. Some have but the bulk do not have stands and this has taken a longer time to be addressed because of varying reasons.

“However, City of Mutare officials assured us that they are going to release residential stands to ease the pressure of human settlement. It is unfortunate that we have some of us who failed to follow the law and decided to parcel out residential stands with no approval from council,” said Mugadza.

Muguti warned that it was wrong to juxtapose criminal activities with politics as this will tarnish Zanu PF’s image. He went on to mention that Gimboki settlement in its entirety was fraught with double allocations.

“We have names of people who pleaded guilty for illegally settling themselves in this area and have begged for leniency.

“There are others who are still defying Council order. Those who have begged for mercy should be allocated stands. But if you know that you have been dodging police, even local residents, I am giving you seven days to vacate with your belongings.

“After the seven days, police will come and help you to vacate your place”, added Muguti.

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