First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe yesterday said authorities responsible for land allocation in urban areas must be held accountable for their cruelty of watching people erect houses on illegal land without stopping them, only to pitch up to demolish the completed structures.

She said it was disheartening that those in charge of land allocation chose to turn a blind eye when people build houses on the illegal land. Amai Mugabe made the remarks while handing over a house built by Zimbabwe Music Awards (Zima) to revolutionary musician Dickson “Cde Chinx” Chingaira in Harare.

“There are questions we are asking and we want answers,” she said. “Someone must answer these questions out there, kuti ndiani akambopa land iyoyo, ndiani akasainira, who was the councillor during that particular time, how did it go?

“We want to get the real story, not only the chorus that people built on undesignated land. I saw this happening and you all saw it. Inga huku nembudzi dzedu topfigira wani, what about a person?”

Local authorities, together with the Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Ministry are responsible for urban land.

Amai Mugabe went on: “You see someone building his or her house from the foundation level to window and roof level until completion, then when they are about to move in, someone comes and says it’s an illegal structure.

The First Lady said due diligence was needed before demolitions, with culprits being brought to book.