By Nigel Tawanda Pfunde
Murewa- A land dispute between Murewa city council and a local businessman Munyaradzi Marufu has exposed a suspected corruption ring allegedly involving the council’s Chief Executive Officer Alois Gurajena and Town Planner Gordon Maruta.
Investigations by this Timely News reveal that Murovray Private Limited which is owned by Marufu is taking legal action against the council for breaching land allocation regulations.
Marufu claims the council unlawfully allocated a portion of his already purchased land to another developer under suspicious circumstances.
Investigations by Timely News established that Marufu and his business partner legally acquired the stand in 2013 with intention to establish a nightclub at Nyamutumbu Business Centre in Makore.
However, the council reportedly allowed a second developer to erect a building directly in front of their shop jeopardizing their business operations.
“Our bar was nearing completion when we were surprised to learn that the council had authorized another developer to construct a structure in front of our premises,” said Marufu in an affidavit.
“Our investigations indicate that the council ignored zoning by-laws, especially considering our stand is on a corner and five kilometers from the main road.”
Marufu further alleged that the council had approved additional developments that violated urban planning regulations and said it’s a clear case of corruption and mismanagement.
Attempts to obtain an official response from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
However a ZACC official who spoke to us on condition of anonymity, confirmed that a formal investigation into the matter is underway.
Preliminary findings suggest that the scheme involving double allocation of stands is being orchestrated by senior officials with chief architect been Gurajena who has previously been linked to other controversies and town planner Maruta
Both officials could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.