Council build shopping mall on grave site

GOKWE Rural District Council has been accused of building a shopping complex at a grave site in the Nyamazana area under Chief Njelele without consulting traditional leaders or the concerned families.

Chief Njelele confirmed the development and accused the rural district council of implementing projects without consulting local traditional leaders.

"The rural district council has the tendency of doing things without informing traditional leaders and it is not the first time for them to do this," he said.

However, Gokwe rural district chief executive officer Silas Velani dismissed the allegations saying the shopping complex was being constructed far away from the grave site.

"The graves are there, but they are far away from the shops. Shops were built 500m from the main road," said Velani

"The area is reserved for the rural expansion services and the affected families were given business stands in the area. We also left a space for the affected families to build their homes."