Council wants ZACC probe for employee
CHITUNGWIZA Municipality is once again under investigation, with a six-man commission set up to investigate alleged irregularities in human resources, land sales, corporate governance and the circumstances around the recent dismissal of Town Clerk George Makunde.
The commission, chaired by Mr Edgars Seenza, was given 14 days to report back.
In an interview last Friday, Local Government acting permanent secretary Retired Colonel Joseph Mhakayakora said the latest probe team to investigate Chitungwiza was appointed by Minister July Moyo.
“The minister has appointed the probe to team to investigate the running of Chitungwiza Municipality as there are many reports of some irregularities taking place,” he said. “The team will report back after two weeks.”
The investigations stem from last year’s harmonised elections which brought no change for Chitungwiza residents as elected
HARARE City Council’s Audit Committee wants to bring in the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate council employee, Calvin Chigariro, whose bungling in a skip truck tender in 2017 prejudiced the local authority US$343 048, and that in any case disciplinary action be taken against him.
Council took delivery of 10 single skip trucks from FAW Zimbabwe instead of double skip trucks as stipulated by the tender, after Chigariro failed to carry out a pre-delivery inspection as prescribed by the Memorandum of Agreement.
This came out after investigations carried out by audit manager Mr Archibald Nyamurova at the request of the Environmental Management Committee.
“The committee was advised that the then acting chief engineer had failed to protect council’s interest in this regard, hence there was dereliction of duty on his part,” read recent minutes of the audit committee.
“Pre- works done at the council workshops had identified defects on nine out of the 10 skip trucks and council was prejudiced R5 190 000 and it was noted that there were no delivery notes for these skip trucks.”
The minutes noted that there were several anomalies discovered relating to the specifications of the trucks.
“Council wanted automatic vehicles, but FAW delivered manual ones. Council needed mayor Gift Tsverere and his deputy Jabulani Mtunzi resigned after serving for barely six months as a result of their suspension by the High Court in October following an
ABS braking system, but the company supplied none among other specifications,” read the report.
Payment for the delivered skip bins was made directly to the company upon written authorisation by the finance director using a $30 million loan facility for the purchase of plant and equipment.
The audit committee also recommended that the acting chamber secretary sue FAW for breach of contract and that it pays back the R5,1 million.
In an interview, town clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango said the city had already put in place a procurement management unit to avoid such mistakes.
“You should understand that when this incident took place, council had not yet established a procurement management unit,” he said.
“Then we used to have engineers and supply chain on the other side and were not adhering to the procurement policies. Whenever something is not done properly, we investigate and take action.”
Harare Residents Trust director Mr Precious Shumba said lack of transparency continued to cost the local authority.
“The HRT has consistently demanded transparency in the use of public resources and the officials must always be held accountable for their actions,” he said.
“The councillors and the officials who were involved in the purchase of the skip trucks should be punished for their connivance to deprive council of its proper refuse equipment.” application challenging their election by Zanu-PF councillor Kevin Mutimbanyoka.
Councillor Lovemore Maiko was then elected mayor and was deputised by Musa Makweza.
Maiko was arrested together with ward 2 councillor Kudakwashe John and works director David Duma less than a year into his term. The three were charged with criminal abuse of office involving the sale of 2 000 square metres of commercial land at Chigovanyika Shopping Centre in Chitungwiza.
They later sold 1 500 square metres of land to the wife of the mayor after a council resolution, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said.
Mayor Maiko is however not fazed by the commission.
“Let the commission do its work, and it is our sincere hope that its work will help improve efficiency and effectiveness in terms of service delivery,” he said.
“Our thrust is to put systems in place and build a strong institution and ensure that
THE leadership row in the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) has triggered notices of eviction for 28 church-owned houses, but one man in Highfield is fighting back, saying he was never involved in the row.
Kennerd Magune, who has been a resident at house number 1618 Lusaka, Highfield since January, has approached the High Court seeking an interdict against the eviction, saying the eviction will leave his family homeless.
The church, which is embroiled in a leadership wrangle, won a Bulawayo High Court case number HC 2106/18 and issued a we bring law and order in Chitungwiza. We have a clear mandate and that is to deliver, this include dealing with all hygiene issues; hence our resolution to have a forensic audit. This is in our effort to have a clean and smart Chitungwiza.”
A month later after Maiko’s arrest, director of housing Hazel Sithole was arrested for conniving with Duma to allocate a commercial stand worth over $30 000 to a local company, Metalhill Investments (Pvt) Ltd, without following due process.
Duma, who is facing counts of abuse of office, was appointed the town’s acting town clerk by Maiko following the suspension of Dr Makunde.
Chitungwiza Progressive Residents Association Secretary General Mr Gift Kurupati said the commission should restore sanity in the town.
“I am made to understand that the probe team wants to find out what happened between mayor and town clerk,” he said. “It will be good if the commission comes up with a permanent solution to our problems writ of eviction on 28 houses, including the one in Highfield.
“If at the time this order is granted and eviction is effected, then this order is authority to any such person to re-enter the premises and the deputy sheriff shall render all necessary assistance to allow the applicant to re-enter and re-take occupation of the premises,” read the draft order.
“On August 15, 2019, the Sheriff served me with a writ of eviction. The property is not listed on either the order or writ.”
Magune claims that Reverend Richard Sibanda, who was the overseer and chairman of the church’s board of trustees, did not apply for the writ, but he is cited as a plaintiff. as residents.”
Chitungwiza has had a lot of corruption allegations.
Fourteen years ago, Chitungwiza mayor Mr Misheck Shoko was arrested by police and was later suspended by a commission that investigated allegations of misconduct and complicity in the decline of service delivery in the town that were levelled against him.
In 2011, the then town clerk Mr Godfrey Tanyanyiwa was also fired and subsequently arrested on corruption, fraud allegations, including placing his housemaid on council’s payroll. In 2013, housing director Jemina Gumbo was also fired for illegally changing land use plans and unprocedurally allocating vast tracts of land to Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa’s United Family International Church (UFIC).
Four years later, Government suspended Mayor Phillip Mutoti and all 24 councillors for allegedly corruptly allocating themselves tracts of land worth over $7 million resulting in the appointment of a caretaker commission for Chitungwiza.
He said he assumed there was an error and contacted the church’s legal practitioners.
“I am aware of litigation going on in the church and that Rev Sibanda was suspended from his membership of the church and evicted from a Bulawayo house belonging to the church,” read the application.
“Rev Sibanda does not reside at the premises with me nor do I claim occupation through him. “The eviction, apart from being illegal, will cause me great hardship as I have nowhere to move to with my family.
“I have never been a party to any litigation with either of the respondents and the writ cannot possibly be directed at me, yet it is me who is sought to be evicted.”
Lawrence Chitumba
BUSINESSES and non- governmental organisations ( NGOs) have been urged to partner the Government and come up with interventions that cushion the elderly against economic challenges.
This was said by the Minister of State for Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs Monica Mavhunga recently during commemorations to mark the International Day of Older Persons in Bindura.
She said Government was fully aware of the socio- economic situations that the elderly find themselves in and has been rolling out a number of policies and programmes aimed at assisting them.
“The elderly contributed immensely to the growth of the country in various facets of life and they are the ones taking care of the orphans left behind by victims of the HIV and Aids pandemic. They deserve to be cared for,” she said.
“There is need to facilitate things like access to health care at Government and mission hospitals.
‘‘ The Department of Social Welfare has been providing the ‘assistance medical treatment order’ to all vulnerable people of which 35 percent using the facility are the elderly.
“More than 70 080 people, the elderly included are on public assistance and are beneficiaries of the food deficiency mitigation programme implemented by the Government.”
She said senior citizens also require protection against discrimination and all forms of abuse which is at times perpetrated by family members who are supposed to be taking care of them.