BCC audit chair resigns
THE Bulawayo City Council audit system has been thrown into disarray after the audit committee chairperson resigned last week amid revelations that some fellow councillors were allegedly threatening him after he refused to endorse a council resolution citing gross irregularities.
Councillor Macdonald Chunga reportedly had to tender his resignation papers from the position of the audit committee chairperson protesting against the threats he had allegedly received from his colleagues after he overturned a resolution which had seen councillors awarding a site which is operating as a preschool to Trek Petroleum for the establishment of a fuel station.
Councillors had referred the matter to the audit committee with the intention of investigating reasons why council management was delaying in implementing the resolution awarding Trek the site.
However, upon scrutinising the report, Clr Chunga’s committee noted that the awarding of the site was irregular and went on to overturn the whole resolution, a move that was further endorsed by council’s internal audit department.
Contacted for comment Clr Chunga declined to shed more light saying: “As you know I am not allowed to talk to the media, please call the mayor, he is the only one allowed to talk to you guys but yes, there is something happening, that is all I can say for now,” said Clr Chunga.
Bulawayo Mayor Clr Martin Moyo also confirmed the development noting that it was a sad one as it painted council in the wrong light.
“The audit committee should be a highly respected council committee, they are the ones who carry out checks and balances for us, so for colleagues to threaten our audit chairperson it is wrong and sets the wrong precedence, fellow councillors should respect our audit’s decisions. What I must emphasise is that we will not take this lightly, we will have to deal with whoever threatened him. We will first discuss the matter at our general purposes meeting before discussing it with the whole councillors, it is bad honestly,” said Clr Moyo.
He said they would also engage Clr Chunga to get the finer details of the matter.
However, sources close to the proceedings revealed that Clr Chunga had become a target of some councillors feeling let down by his decision. They revealed that some councillors were even calling in the middle of night accusing Clr Chunga of being a sellout.
“Clr Chunga handed his notice of resignation to the internal auditor who advised him that instead of resigning he should file an official complaint against all the councillors who have been threatening him. It now appears like these councillors benefited somehow from the deal because others are now saying he should remember that he is a member of the MDC-T and they will use their influence within the party to recall him. Others are even saying they will disregard his committee’s findings,” said the source.
The source further revealed that other members of the audit committee; Councillors Reuben Matengu and Clyton Zana have also threatened to resign from the committee in solidarity with their chairperson.
The resolution under scrutiny would have seen Tshaka Pre-School in Makokoba relocating to a site opposite St Columba’s High School, with the preschool’s site being taken over by Trek Petroleum to establish a fuel station.