BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
The Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC Alliance says it suspects that corruption allegations being levelled against its councillors in Victoria Falls are politically motivated as pressure mounts on authorities to act on the alleged pilfering of the local authority’s resources.
Victoria Falls residents and war veterans from Matabeleland North are pushing for a lifestyle audit for councillors and the local authority’s management amid claims of a looting frenzy at a time the council is struggling to provide basic services.
The calls for an audit grew following the arrest of city mayor Somvelo Dhlamini about a fortnight ago on fraud allegations.
There are also allegations that town clerk Ronnie Dube and other councillors are involved in corrupt activities related to the parcelling out of commercial stands.
The Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association (Vifacora) claimed last week that it has evidence that Dube and some councillors sold a prime commercial stand number 8300 for $4 million instead of $14 million before councillors and some senior managers shared $400 000 that was paid as a bribe by the lowest bidder.
Responding to the allegations, MDC Alliance spokesperson Witness Dube told VicFallsLive that they were sceptical about the developments in Victoria Falls.
Dhlamini and other Victoria Falls councillors have remained loyal to Mwonzora after he saved them from recalls when the MDC Alliance was still led by Nelson Chamisa, who now leads the Citizens Coalition for Change.
“The party is seized with the matter of rampant corruption that is alleged to be happening in Victoria Falls and indeed, the party has a very keen interest in issues of corruption in any of the local authorities where we have representation,” Dube said.
“However, in the issue of Victoria Falls there are some dimensions which the party is not comfortable with in terms of what we suspect are strong political hands at play leading to perhaps the possibility of having spurious allegations of corruption where there is no such corruption.
“We will assume that our officials are innocent until they are proven guilty by a competent court of law and as a party we have a complete organ dedicated to those issues who are in the process of investigating everything that has led to the allegations, which has led the incarceration of our sitting councillors or the executive members in the council, some of which has led the party to be viewed in bad light everywhere.”
Dube said the MDC Alliance valued honesty and diligence, and as such, they were not going to interfere with the investigations.
“I can assure residents in Victoria Falls and anywhere in Zimbabwe that we are not a party that is going to stand in the way of the Zimbabwe Republic Police or Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission or any whistle blower for that matter where corruption is concerned,” he said.
“We will only ventilate and come out in defence of any party official if we find that they are being victimised by political hands for instance in this case our colleagues in the newly formed political party (Citizens for Coalition of Change), or even in the ruling party we will not brook the abuse of our elected officials and victimization through whatever means that may take.”
He added: “We are a party that abhors corruption because it amounts to the misuse of public funds, it amounts to the enrichment of public officials through public resources.
“So we are totally against corruption and as a party our policy is that we do not stand on the way of any efforts to stop corruption or to stamp out corruption.”
Meanwhile, Vifacora has written a letter to the local government ministry, speaker of parliament and police, among other institutions demanding investigations into the alleged corruption and mismanagement at the Victoria Falls City Council.
Ratepayers have also signed a petition demanding action against those implicated that implicated in corruption cases.