The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has issued a strong rebuttal to recent statements made by Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume regarding illegal structures at the Raylton Sports Club.
In a statement released today, the NRZ challenged the mayor’s account and provided detailed counterpoints to the allegations made before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee recently.
During his parliamentary appearance, Mayor Mafume suggested that the NRZ was responsible for the construction of tuck-shops on land leased from the City of Harare (COH) at the Raylton Sports Club.
The NRZ has unequivocally refuted these claims, labeling them as “incorrect, a misdirection, and misleading.”
“The NRZ lays out the facts of the matter as follows: The tuck-shops are illegal structures which are a result of a fraudulent collusion between a former Harare Raylton bartender and the illegal occupiers through event hire permits misconstrued as leases,” the statement read.
According to the NRZ, the City of Harare had approved the construction of these structures based on event hire permits, bypassing the necessary approval from the NRZ, which holds the primary lease for the land.
The NRZ highlighted that these permits were incorrectly used to justify the construction, which was not sanctioned by the leaseholder.
Upon discovering the unauthorized construction, the NRZ took several actions, including notifying the COH of the irregularities and reporting the issue to the police.
“The NRZ reported the case to police resulting in the arrest of the culprits and also instituted internal disciplinary processes which resulted in the dismissal of the bartender. Acting on the basis of our objection, the COH proceeded to withdraw its approvals to the building of the tuck-shops and issued demolition orders on paper which they never carried through.
The NRZ is currently pursuing legal action, with a pending eviction case in the High Court involving the illegal constructors and the COH as co-respondents.
In its statement, the NRZ expressed surprise at the mayor’s apparent lack of awareness about the situation, suggesting that a consultation with the Town Clerk’s office could have clarified the facts.
“If he had checked things properly, he would have applauded our efforts to evict the illegal occupants instead of besmirching the NRZ. NRZ persisted seeking COH intervention when the illegal constructions were on foundation but to no avail,” the statement said.
