THOUSANDS of teachers from across the country have been ripped off after falling victim to a scam orchestrated by land barons posing as property developers.
The educators, mostly members of the Zimbabwe Teachers Union (Zimta), have lost money through monthly subscriptions of at least US$75 for five years, equal to approximately US$5 000 each.
The scam was exposed when teachers were supposed to be shown the residential stands and they discovered that the land did not exist or was not legally available for sale.
The projects were allegedly run across the country, with Zimta provincial leadership overseeing the processes.
NewsDay gathered that deductions were effected through the Salary Service Bureau (SSB), which led the teachers to believe that the project was authentic.
The scam has left the teachers financially strained, with some taking the legal route to reclaim their funds.
Teachers, who spoke to NewsDay, said they were facing hurdles in recovering their money as the so-called land developers are nowhere to be found.
In some instances, they have learnt that the union leaders who were spearheading the project resigned, leaving the teachers with little hope of recovering their money.
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Thousands of teachers are up in arms with Zimta, demanding to be compensated by the union.
“I started paying for the contributions in 2021, I was paying US$75 for a residential stand in Rusape,” a teacher, who requested anonymity, said.
“It was a project where we were members together with other teachers. We were shown the site map of the area and the agreement was that we would be allocated the stands after four years.
“It looked authentic. But now we are being told the land developer is nowhere to be found. We can’t even trace him. We do not even know him.”
Zimta secretary-general Goodwill Taderera said the union was aware of the complaints and was addressing the issue.
He, however, said the housing projects were being conducted at provincial level across provinces, outside national executive management.
Taderera said when the union tried to use the legal route to recover its members’ funds, the alleged land developers were nowhere to be found.
“Provincial members were running various projects in their respective provinces and there are so many successful stories,” Taderera said.
“But in other provinces there were land barons who scammed teachers. We have intervened at the national level. We have created a portfolio of properties and we have employed someone who is moving around all provinces to come up with a comprehensive assessment of those projects. We have now centralised the housing project.
“Of late, people have been doing those projects individually at provincial level without head office or national executive involvement. So, realising that this is now a risk, we have halted all provincial projects.”
He said Zimta had no funds to compensate the teachers since the members paid the alleged developers.
“Five years is a long time, we understand,” Taderera said. “But the projects were involving selected individuals. So, as Zimta we can’t take funds from other people’s contributions who did not take part in the projects to compensate those who were affected by the scam.
“However, we have put in place measures to address that. We have employed someone who is looking at our properties and is currently moving around all provinces.
“I am aware that last week, the other one was actually in Bulawayo, covering Bulawayo province, March North, and March South, to establish (the extent of the scam).”
SSB paymaster Twoboy Shoko could not say who benefited from the teachers’ contributions.
“The affected teachers should inquire with those they claim they were paying. The duty of the paymaster is to pay those he is directed to pay,” he said.
“So if there was a directive from the teachers to pay whoever was paid, they should check with them whether they received the funds or not.”
