MUTARE- Zanu PF Youths in Mutare have threatened to forcibly seize land for residential stands accusing the MDC-T dominated City of Mutare of resisting a government directives to roll out a housing programme for youths.
Addressing scores of youths who gathered in the central business district of Mutare for a clean up campaign in commemoration of 21st February movement celebrations, ZANU PF Youths Provincial Chairman, Mubuso Chinguno said if there is no positive feedback from Mutare City Council the youths will grab land and allocate it among themselves.
“We have indentified vacant land in Chikanga and Dangamvura that the City council is not allocating.
“We are going to take it upon ourselves to grab the land because city fathers are not responding well they will come and regularise this when we are already on the stands because we are not going to wait for the laid down procedure.
“MDC T councillors are not going to stop this, we are not going to be apologetic about that and we are going to do this in two weeks time.
“We are prepared to be arrested, this is the sacrifice that we are going to make they are taking it as political, they are the only local authority that is refusing to give us land,” he said.
He said even the risk of arrest was not going to deter them from taking the land forcibly.
Mubuso also lambasted local real estate companies for inconsiderate hikes of rentals, challenging the proprietors mostly Indians to leave the province or toe the line.
He said the Indian community is renovating buildings to meet modern trends in line with their steep rentals, while accusing them of keeping liquid cash at their homes.
“There is an issue of Indians here in Mutare they own most buildings along first street, yet they are hiking rentals just to frustrate black entrepreneurs.
“The buildings are not being improved and they are keeping the money in their homes.
“They are not improving the buildings and we are warning them that if they do not stop their behaviour we will not spare them, they should leave our province,” he said.
Mutare City Mayor Tatenda Nhemarare declined to comment, urging youths to use proper channels if they want residential stands.
“I cannot comment on the issue because I have to ascertain whether there was indeed a meeting where that was said but as council we have set down procedures of disposing land to home seekers, not land grabbing that is not the way. We have a waiting list of people also seeking land threw the proper channels,” said Nhemarare.
