NRZ hits back at Mafume

The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has refuted claims by Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume that it approved illegal structures at the Raylton Sports Club, calling these allegations misleading.

During a recent appearance before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, Mafume suggested that the tuck-shops erected on NRZ-leased land had the railways' approval. However, an NRZ spokesperson clarified that this was not accurate.

"These tuck-shops are illegal structures resulting from fraudulent collusion between a former Raylton bartender and the illegal occupiers," the NRZ spokesperson stated. He explained that event hire permits were wrongly interpreted as leases, leading the City of Harare (COH) to approve the constructions without NRZ's consent.

Upon discovering the issue, NRZ objected to COH, highlighting the absence of an official lease and the breach of land use agreements. This led to police intervention, arrests, and the dismissal of the bartender involved. Despite initial withdrawal of approvals and issuance of demolition orders by COH, these orders were never enforced.

NRZ then filed a High Court eviction case against the illegal constructors, naming COH as co-respondents.

The railways expressed surprise at Mafume's lack of awareness of these facts and criticized him for not verifying the information with the Town Clerk's office.

NRZ argued that proper checks would have revealed their efforts to combat illegal occupation, and that Mafume's statements unfairly tarnished NRZ's reputation.