Three Land Barons Jailed For Selling State Land Reserved For For A School
Three land barons were jailed for 12 months on fraud charges each last week by a Harare magistrate for illegally selling State land reserved for a new primary school in Budiriro.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) arrested States Simusonza, Ranson Chingwara and Tidings Keta all from Budiriro for selling stand they illegally carved out of the State land at prices ranging between US$5 000 and U$7 500.
The three were members of Tabudirira Housing Cooperative.
The matter came to light when their victims were served with eviction notices in July 2015 for building houses on land reserved for a primary school.
This led to the arrest of the three by ZACC investigators who took them to court where they went through a full trial resulting in their conviction and 12-month jail terms.
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ZACC spokesperson Commissioner John Makumre told The Herald in an interview that the anti-graft body was investigating several cases brought to the attention of ZACC. He added:
I can assure you that these land barons will soon be nabbed and locked up for a very long time.
What Happened:
It is alleged that in 2014, Honest Vanhuvawone bought a residential stand from the Cooperative at US$5 000 within greater Harare.
An affidavit confirming the payment was drafted was signed.
He was fraudulently allocated stand number 27033 from the State land reserved for a primary school which the Cooperative had subdivided into small residential stands.
On another charge, Emilia Nyapokoto from Budiriro was referred to the Cooperative where she paid US$7 500 for a 380 square-metre stand.
She too built her house only to discover in July 2015 after she was served with an eviction order by the City of Harare that the land was reserved for a primary school.
