News / Local
Mnangagwa abandons building houses for chiefs
27 Dec 2020 at 14:09hrs | Views
THE government says it has no capacity to construct houses for each and every traditional chief across the country. This comes after Chief Ephraim Chikwaka, last week, pleaded with the National Housing ministry to build decent houses for the traditional leaders, arguing they hold a prestigious status in society.
"At what stage is the ministry (of Housing) in terms of constructing houses for traditional chiefs so that they can have a decent status in society?" asked Chikwaka.
Responding to the question, Housing minister Daniel Garwe said the government had limited resources to build houses for every chief across the country.
"The government has noted that construction of houses for the chiefs is not a sustainable programme. "Chiefs, like every Zimbabwean, look upon the government for their welfare and upkeep, but the government does not have enough resources.
"It is not sustainable due to the fact that today we have Chief Ephraim Chikwaka, we build a house for him and he passes on and another chief takes over who will also want a house constructed for him" said Garwe.
He added that the government has decided to build traditional courts by 2021 instead of houses, where issues of that particular area would be discussed as well as settling disputes.
"The government made a decision to construct traditional courts, which must be modern structures constructed within each chief's jurisdiction.
"This court will be used by chiefs for generation after generation and is a sustainable project which is the government's position and intends to undertake.
"We must understand that the government does not have resources for individuals and it will help us a lot to move forward in terms of development," Garwe said.
Besides being paid a monthly allowance, traditional chiefs in the country have been allocated all-terrain vehicles by the government to facilitate their work in rural areas.
"At what stage is the ministry (of Housing) in terms of constructing houses for traditional chiefs so that they can have a decent status in society?" asked Chikwaka.
Responding to the question, Housing minister Daniel Garwe said the government had limited resources to build houses for every chief across the country.
"The government has noted that construction of houses for the chiefs is not a sustainable programme. "Chiefs, like every Zimbabwean, look upon the government for their welfare and upkeep, but the government does not have enough resources.
"It is not sustainable due to the fact that today we have Chief Ephraim Chikwaka, we build a house for him and he passes on and another chief takes over who will also want a house constructed for him" said Garwe.
He added that the government has decided to build traditional courts by 2021 instead of houses, where issues of that particular area would be discussed as well as settling disputes.
"The government made a decision to construct traditional courts, which must be modern structures constructed within each chief's jurisdiction.
"This court will be used by chiefs for generation after generation and is a sustainable project which is the government's position and intends to undertake.
"We must understand that the government does not have resources for individuals and it will help us a lot to move forward in terms of development," Garwe said.
Besides being paid a monthly allowance, traditional chiefs in the country have been allocated all-terrain vehicles by the government to facilitate their work in rural areas.
Source - dailynews
