HARARE Mayor Jacob Mafume has launched a blistering internal crackdown, issuing a final ultimatum to senior council officials allegedly complicit in the chaotic and corrupt land deals plaguing the capital. In a tense closed-door meeting yesterday, Mafume directly implicated his own directors and lieutenants in enabling the operations of infamous “land barons.” “There will be no more looking the other way. There are officers in this very room who have been facilitators—issuing dubious permits, turning a blind eye to invasions, and lining their pockets while citizens suffer,” Mafume stated.
“Your collusion ends today.” The Mayor has mandated a 14-day window for all directors in housing, planning, and lands to submit full disclosures of all land allocations and permits issued since January 2023. He has threatened immediate suspension and criminal prosecution for any official found to have abetted land corruption. “The era of impunity within these walls is finished.
We are compiling a dossier for the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission. If you have been a partner to these barons, your time is up,” Mafume declared. The hardline stance has sent shockwaves through Town House. It comes amid mounting pressure from central government and residents stranded without services on illegally sold land.
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