By Tapera Msikavanhu (Mashonaland Central correspondent)
The Mazowe Rural District Council chairman has been fingered in a corruption scandal that has allegedly prejudiced of millions of dollars through irregular parceling of land.
A dossier prepared by an employee of the rural district council alleges that John Mudzonga the Mazowe Rural District Council chairman has been involved in dubious land distribution activities.
Mr. Mudzonga was not answering his call by the time of going to print. A commissioner with the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission, John Makamure, when asked about the letter delivered to the anti-graft body detailing the corruption, confirmed that there is a team investigating corruption within councils but refused to be drawn into divulging finer details about the Mazowe case.
The full text of the dossier to ZACC reads:
Mazowe Rural District Council is a body corporate established in terms of section 12 of the Rural District councils Act Chapter 29:13. The Council is mandated to provide services to its civil society in terms of section71 of the rural district council Act.
Mazowe Rural District Council has a population of 233 450. The major settlements under Mazowe rural district council include Nzvimbo, Glendale, Concession, Mazowe, and Christon Bank.
The Rural District Council believes in TAETA (Transparency, Excellence , Accountability, Teamwork, and Agility).
It is under these TAETA values that I write to you requesting your timely intervention to preserve the Rural District council from the scourge of Corruption.
There is an unfathomable level of the rot within the Mazowe RDC and its Dandamera, Tsungubvi, Chiweshe, and Mvurwi sub-offices.
The level of corruption will hinder the council from realizing its vision of creating an empowered, prosperous community by December 2023. Corruption has made it difficult to provide quality services through community participation for socio-economic transformation.
This dossier is an attempt at pointing you in the direction of the rot to enable ZACC investigators and prosecutors to do their jobs, while protecting my identity and guaranteeing my personal safety and that of my family.
Stands are a key area that requires transparency and diligence in managing them as they are a national treasure meant to benefit all Zimbabweans.
The Mazowe Rural District Council chairman John Mudzonga, councilors, and other officials have flouted several laws and regulations in his handling of stands.
I refer you to these areas and the number of stands that were parceled out irregularly by the chairman of the Rural District Council.
Area and Stands parceled out irregularly:
Nzvimbo 45
Mazowe Medium density 28
Portlock High Density 10
Mazowe low density 64
Rockwood Concession 49
The chairman of the Rural District Council has abused his office and power and interfered in the distribution and sale of these stands to benefit himself and his acquaintances.
A case study is the stand that John Mudzonga gave to musician Mark Ngwazi without following proper procedure. While it is commendable that the RDC chairman wanted to support the artist, he should have followed due process.
Several commercial stands have also been parceled out in a corrupt manner which needs to be investigated.
Community Share Ownership Schemes
Metallon Gold made a contribution of USD 10 000 in the community share ownership scheme. These funds need to be audited and accounted for. The funds did not benefit the people of Mazowe.