Chitungwiza suspends chamber secretary

CHITUNGWIZA Municipality has suspended its chamber secretary Ms Charity Maunga with immediate effect on allegations of abuse of office among other things, The Herald has learnt.

Maunga also acted as town clerk after Dr George Makunde was “fired” last year in September by the then Caretaker Commission appointed by former Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere.

According to a letter dated May 8, 2018, which is in The Herald’s possession, Ms Maunga’s suspension is without pay and benefits.

“The council is suspecting you of, among other things, acting or conducting yourself inconsistently with the fulfilment of express or implied conditions of your contract during your employment with the council” reads the letter.

“To this end, council is conducting an investigation into the following issues: incompetence, unprofessional conduct, dishonesty, abuse of office and mismanagement of resources or funds.”

The local authority suspects that Ms Maunga breached Statutory Instrument 15 of 2006 in terms of National Code of Conduct and has ordered her to surrender all council property in her possession.

“You are therefore, required to surrender all company property in your possession, including Toyota Fortuner to the acting audit manager. You are no longer allowed to enter any municipal premises or interfere with investigations unless by investigation”, added the letter.

According to a close source, a General Purpose Meeting was held on Monday to discuss the matter, but the issue was not concluded.

“From a special meeting that was done yesterday, the matter was not finalised and there are still some procedures to be followed, which include the matter being adopted in the forthcoming full council meeting,” he said.

However, it is reportedly said that Ms Maunga stopped coming to work last week after being served with that letter.

This is not the first time the municipality is suspending or firing a chamber secretary, with the last case being of Ms Priscilla Vengesai, who was sacked by the council in September 2015 after she was found guilty of conducting herself inconsistently with the conditions of her contract.

Chitungwiza Municipality public relations officer Mr Lovemore Meya said he could not comment because he was not knowledgeable about the matter.

However, Ms Maunga could neither deny nor confirm the development, but only referred this reporter to the town clerk, who was not reachable by the time of going to print.