HARARE – Acting Harare mayor Charity Bango on Monday reported Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo to the police over a suspected land scam, in the latest skirmish between President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party and the MDC of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The two former foes are in a tripartite coalition government that also includes the smaller MDC breakaway faction of Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara but have clashed over a variety of issues as they tussle for control of the government.

Bango, from the MDC that controls the politically strategic capital, asked the police to investigate and possibly arrest Chombo – a relative of Mugabe and senior member of ZANU PF party – after a council committee unearthed evidence of a massive land scandal under which the minister allegedly influenced council officials to illegally sell land to him.

Bango, acting mayor in the absence of mayor Muchadeyi Masunda who is an MDC ally, wants another relative of Mugabe and a top businessman Philip Chiyangwa investigated for also allegedly colluding with council officials to transfer large tracts of municipal land to him.

"We have made an initial report to the police and we want all those implicated to be brought to book. Council is compiling further evidence which we will hand over to the police in due course. No stone will be left unturned," said Bango.

According to a council report on land sales from October 2004 to December 2009 there were several cases of suspected fraud and irregular sales where: “Chombo would identify pieces of land in the city, influence council officials to apply to him for change of land use and then sit over the same applications and approve the change.

“He would then write to council officials asking to buy the same stands and obviously get them. Land reserved for recreational activities would end up having title deeds in his company name.”

Chiyangwa, a former ZANU PF provincial chairman, also influenced council officials to sell him municipal land and in some cases paying well below the market value for the property, according to the report.

The alleged land scandal on paper appears a simple case of suspected fraud and corruption but it has assumed a political dimension mimicking the power struggle within the unity government.

For example the police – who together with other state security institutions are controlled by ZANU PF – have rushed to arrest the eight councillors who compiled the land report almost immediately after it was leaked to the press last week.

The police, who have not questioned Chombo or Chiyangwa on the alleged illegal land purchases by the two, have charged the eight councillors, who are all members of the MDC, with criminal defamation.

On the other hand, Chombo, who has powers under the Urban Councils Act (UCA) to fire local councils for gross incompetence or misconduct, has hinted he could invoke the Act against the Harare City Council.

A special committee appointed by Chombo to probe councillors for corruption began public hearings on Monday in what appears an attempt by the minister to set the stage for the dismissal of the Masunda-led council.

The UCA allows Chombo to name a commission to take charge of the capital after he has dismissed an elected council. He has previously used the Act to fire MDC–led councils and replacing them with pro-ZANU PF commissions to ensure Mugabe’s party enjoyed control of the city even after losing council elections.

The MDC has accused Chombo of instituting the corruption probe to intimidate councillors from pursuing the land case against him.

The minister and ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo were not immediately available for comment on the matter last night.

By Zimonline