The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has arrested Innop Housing Development secretary Nicholas Serima for allegedly selling a plot reserved for a public school to an unsuspecting buyer.
Investigations revealed that the land in question at Victoria Range, Masvingo, was not owned by the housing firm, but had instead been earmarked for the construction of a public school.
The arrest is the latest in a wave of land-related fraud cases that have plagued Zimbabwe’s property market, where demand for residential stands continues to rise.
“It is alleged that Serima deceived Dr Tinashe Chiremba into buying a piece of land at Victoria Range, Masvingo.
“As a result of the misrepresentation, Dr Chiremba suffered prejudice amounting to US D6 000,” said ZACC in a statement
The commission said the accused will appear in court on summons on a date yet to be advised by the State.
This is not the first time Innop Housing Development has been linked to fraudulent land deals.
In a case that dates back over a decade, a home seeker in Harare’s Kambuzuma suburb lost USD 2 500 after discovering that the housing firm did not own the land he had been allocated, highlighting a persistent pattern of asset misrepresentation by the company.
More broadly, the illegal parcelling out of land designated for public amenities has become a chronic issue in the country.
In 2022, three land barons were jailed for 12 months each for selling state land that had also been reserved for a primary school, this time in Harare’s Budiriro suburb.
ZACC has arrested over 200 public officials for illegal land deals in recent years as the government intensifies its crackdown on land barons.
