Harare Mayor Herbert Gomba was arrested on Monday on allegations of criminal abuse of office connected with the sale of stands.
Online publication Zim Morning Post reports that Gomba was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and spent the night in the police cells.
He is likely to appear before Harare Magistrates’ Court this morning.
His deputy, councillor Enock Mupamawonde is the acting mayor.
Gomba was allegedly involved in the illegal creation and sale of stands, with irregularities in the approval of plans and production of fraudulent layout plans prejudicing the Harare city council of thousands of dollars.
His subordinates in council who include Edgar Dzehonye, a senior officer in the housing department, have already appeared in court, to answer to charges of criminal abuse of office.
Dzehonye was remanded in custody to August 17.
Meanwhile, co-accused Harare City Council’s director of housing and community services Addmore Nhekairo, his predecessor and now acting director human and capital resources Matthew Marara were denied bail on Monday.
Apart from the US$1 million stands scam, Marara and acting chief clerical officer Aaron Tayerera are facing another separate charge of fraudulently selling council land in Strathaven for US$20 900 to an unsuspecting land seeker and pocketing the money.
Nhekairo also allegedly allocated residential stands in Westlea to police officers and a prosecutor, who have since been arrested and charged.
The police officers are deputy director for the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) commercial crimes unit Assistant Commissioner Obeylaw Moyo, and two junior police officers who have been arrested and dragged before the court to answer bribery charges.
Chief public prosecutor Clement Chimbare was arrested and also appeared in court facing the same charges.
It is the State’s case that Moyo, Chimbare and the three junior police officers were allegedly bribed for not arresting or charging suspected kingpins in the scam by being allocated stands in the new middle-income Harare suburb of Westlea using waiting list numbers already given to others.