stands for US$20 while those of other political affiliations are ordered to pay double the
price at US$40 for the same size pieces of land. A man known as Zimbodza and Judith
Charaura are allegedly in charge of collecting the money. Since May 2015, several
people have already built houses in the area without clearance from local authorities.
•
On 26 August 2015, an MDC-T meeting was held in Ward 5 in St Mary’s where party
supporters complained that their councilor, Richard Chamutsa, was not giving
feedback to those who voted for him. They indicated that he did not appreciate being
voted into office by thanking the voters. They accused him of building a big house
without caring for the needs of the community. The councillor was angered by the
statement and openly declared that he was not using party money for building his
house but his own money. The people openly countered this, claiming that he had no
money of his own before he became a councillor. They accused him of using their
money. Ever since this showdown there has been animosity between some members of
the party and the councillor.
•
On 26 August 2015, the Minister of Local Government, Hon. Saviour Kasukuwere,
addressed residents of Hatcliffe whose houses were to be demolished. He indicated
that only houses on the wetlands and on areas designated for public institutions would
be demolished. The homeowners whose houses are scheduled to be demolished
should seek for compensation from chair persons who had allocated them land, it is
understood. This has brought conflict as the chairpersons do not have the money to
pay back to the people. There were about 21 to 24 chairpersons who were allocating
land and people are hounding them demanding their money. Hon. Kasukuwere
clarified that houses on normal ground would not be destroyed and urged owners to
pay their monies to the council and not to individuals. The chairpersons are believed to
have been selling the pieces of land as Hatcliffe Consortium.
•
On 12 August 2015, police and city council officials started demolishing houses which
they said were illegal structures. Residents were allowed to remove their property from
these structures before they were destroyed. The council police officers were also seen
moving around ordering people to get out of the houses and remove their property
before the bulldozers came. Many of the affected people watched demolitions as they
occurred and could be seen crying helplessly. Some were said to be shouting “Pasi ne
Zanu PF (down with Zanu PF)” because the housing co-operative which sold them the
stands is affiliated to the ruling party.Manicaland
Intolerance and politicization of public, quasi-government and NGO programmes have been a
major problem in Manicaland province. The selection of pupils to benefit from orphaned and
vulnerable children (OVC) programmes such as Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM)
depends on whether the pupil’s parents are politically correct and belong to a certain political
party faction. Many students have failed to benefit due to the ‘gamatox’ label tagged on their
parents. ‘Gamatox’ is a word used to refer to former vice president Joice Mujuru’s supporters.
After expulsion from Zanu PF, former party administrator, Didymus Mutasa, has been on the
receiving end of political discrimination. Rusape town council is making frantic efforts to
repossess his house situated in the town claiming it is council property. A country club which
he was running was taken away from him by council despite him using it for the past 20 years.
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