BY NHAU MANGIRAZI
KAROI Rural District Council has been accused of corruptly hiding 105 medium-density residential stands in the Kubatana and Westview areas.
The stands, measuring 1 000 square metres each, had not been declared when the local authority stopped land sales in the two suburbs.
According to latest council minutes, the alleged scam was discovered during a database upgrade.
‘‘We are surprised that some stands have been recovered, yet officials once declared that there were no longer residential stands for sale there,’’ a source said.
Council spokesperson Precious Nharara confirmed the development.
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‘‘We can confirm that during routine updating of council systems, records and databases which is currently underway, including at the housing department, pockets of land yet to be placed on the market were established and such are the stands being sold by council in Kubatana,’’ Nharara said.
However, he said council had now started selling the stands at US$6,50 per square metre from May 17.
Council housing director Sibongile Mujuruki is on suspension after records at the town’s housing department were found to be shambolic.
She went on forced leave on November 19, 2019, before her suspension, on full benefits, pending investigation over abuse of office and non-disclosure charges.
Mujuruki is accused of selling a housing stand belonging to her sister and signing it without power of attorney.
Before she went on suspension, some documents were allegedly burnt, resulting in some residents’ files being lost.
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