The high-profile anti-corruption dragnet cast by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has yielded a complex outcome, with Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume being released late on Wednesday after several hours of intense questioning. However, the Mayor’s relief was not shared by his co-accused, former Harare South Member of Parliament (MP) Shadreck Mashayamombe and Deputy Mayor Rosemary Muronda, who remain in custody facing formal charges related to the fraudulent sale of council land.
The Mayor, a senior official in the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), was questioned for nearly six hours by ZACC investigators. His legal team was quick to assert that their client was never formally placed under arrest.
“It was just an interview to assist with their investigation,” said Jeremiah Bamhu, a member of Mayor Mafume’s legal team. “At the end of it they said they were not pressing any charges and he was free to go.”
Another lawyer, Advocate Method Ndlovu, confirmed the duration of the engagement, which lasted just under six hours. The Mayor’s release, without charge, provides a temporary reprieve from the relentless legal scrutiny that has characterised his time in office.
The Newlands Stands Scandal
The investigation that led to the questioning of Mayor Mafume and the formal arrests of the two other political figures centres on the alleged irregular sale of four valuable housing stands in Harare’s affluent Newlands suburb. Sources briefed on the matter revealed that the transaction involved a complainant who had initially paid a substantial sum of US$600,000 for the land.
The situation escalated when a rival bidder, reportedly a Chinese national, later offered a significantly higher amount — more than US$1 million — for the same stands. This rival bid allegedly prompted an attempt to refund the initial buyer, who, suspecting corruption and foul play, reported the matter to ZACC. While Mayor Mafume was questioned regarding his alleged involvement in this transaction, ZACC’s formal statement only confirmed the arrests of the other two officials.
In a brief official communication, ZACC confirmed the continued detention of the Mayor’s colleagues.
“ZACC confirms the arrest of City of Harare deputy mayor, Councillor Rosemary Muronda, and former Harare South Member of Parliament, Shadreck Mashayamombe, on allegations of fraud involving the fraudulent sale of council land. The two are expected to appear in court soon,” the statement read.
The statement’s omission of Mayor Mafume’s name supports the legal team’s assertion that he was not formally charged in this specific case, although the line of questioning clearly placed him at the centre of the alleged scandal.
A Pattern of Scrutiny for the Mayor
For Mayor Mafume, this latest episode is merely the newest in a long series of legal and ethical challenges. His name has recently featured prominently in the proceedings of a Commission of Inquiry established by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in May 2024 to investigate financial mismanagement and corruption within the City of Harare since 2017.
Testimony presented before the Commission has previously implicated the Mayor in a scheme to divert council revenue. Rosemary Togarepi, the General Manager of Kandrick Investments, a company leasing council-owned properties, alleged that a councillor claiming to represent Mayor Mafume demanded a stake in her company. She further claimed that this demand was followed by the halting of development at one of the leased outlets.
Furthermore, the inquiry heard that directors of Rufaro Marketing, a council-owned entity, were allegedly interfering with lease agreements and instructing tenants to divert rental payments to them. These directors, Juma Ulete and Ngoni Chimbalu, claimed they had been appointed by Mayor Mafume to collect rent from tenants “without lease agreements,” suggesting a wider, organised scheme to siphon funds away from the city council’s coffers.
This is also not the first time the Mayor has faced charges related to land allocation. In 2020, Mr Mafume was arrested and charged with criminal abuse of office for allegedly attempting to allocate residential stands to his sister and his law firm’s secretary in the Westlea suburb of Harare. Following that incident, he was also found guilty of breaching Section 13 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act for lying under oath during a separate investigation, demonstrating a repeated pattern of legal and ethical breaches during his time in office.
Mashayamombe’s Political and Land Controversies
The continued detention of former MP Shadrack Mashayamombe highlights his own history of entanglement in land-related controversies. Mashayamombe, who represented Harare South, has a volatile political career, having been expelled from ZANU-PF in 2017 for alleged links to the G40 faction, only to later join the opposition MDC Alliance (now CCC). More recently, he had reportedly “bounced back” into ZANU-PF structures, but his return was short-lived. In March 2025, the ZANU-PF Harare province suspended him from the party following allegations of indiscipline and fanning factionalism.
However, the former legislator’s name is most frequently associated with allegations of illegal land dealings. During his time as a political figure in Harare South, Mashayamombe was repeatedly implicated in various land scams and the illegal sale of residential stands, often referred to as “land baron” activities. These allegations involve the irregular parcelling out of municipal and state land, a pervasive form of corruption that has seen politically connected individuals amass wealth at the expense of orderly urban development and desperate home-seekers.
The Intensified Anti-Graft Drive
The arrests and subsequent questioning underscore ZACC’s stated commitment to a non-partisan approach in its fight against corruption, even as the Mayor walks free for now. The Commission’s intensified focus on local authorities is a direct response to the public outcry over the deteriorating state of service delivery in cities like Harare, which is widely attributed to systemic corruption and mismanagement.
The fact that the Deputy Mayor and a former MP remain in custody, facing formal charges, signals that ZACC is prepared to pursue cases against individuals regardless of their political affiliation, focusing on the misuse of public office for private gain. The outcome of the court appearance for Muronda and Mashayamombe will be a crucial test of the country’s commitment to accountability and the rule of law.
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