ZIMBABWE | Police has arrested Felix Chisango, a senior officer in the Harare City Council, aged 48, alongside Abel Zhawao, aged 50, and Conwell Mutevhe, aged 38, for allegedly orchestrating an illegal scheme to purchase abandoned land valued at US$400,000.

The arrested trio appeared before Taurai Manuwere, the regional magistrate for Harare, where each was granted a $150 US bail. Their case is scheduled to reopen on June 28 pending ongoing investigations.

Abel Zhawao, a director of Greenway Multiple Agency (Pvt) Ltd., and Felix Chisango, the main clerical officer in the council’s finance department, were implicated. Conwell Mutevhe, a lawyer and managing partner at MC Mukome Legal Practitioners in Harare, also faces charges.

According to prosecutor Anesu Chirenje, the alleged misconduct traces back to 2018 when Lusitania Primary School identified two abandoned stands in Athlone Township for potential construction. Led by town planner and consultant Cannan Mugiyi, the procedure aimed to legally acquire the abandoned land—protected by a court order and left fallow for over 20 years—for the school’s expansion.

Seeking assistance from the City of Harare, Lusitania Primary School pursued title rights under the Derelict Land Act and Title Registration Act for the planned high school construction.

Chisango and Zhawao allegedly colluded to unlawfully acquire the property upon learning of it through the council’s valuation division. Mutevhe was then tasked with submitting a title registration request.

Allegedly, Mutevhe, on behalf of Greenway Multiple Agency, filed a High Court case falsely asserting that the land was purchased from United Services Club in 2008.