News / National
Zanu-PF not to blame for Gweru woes, says MDC-T's Kombayi
15 Aug 2015 at 09:50hrs | Views
SUSPENDED Gweru Mayor, Councillor Hamutendi Kombayi (MDC-T) said Zanu-PF and Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere were not to blame for the problems facing his council.
Clr Kombayi said yesterday that the local authority was to blame for failing to follow simple instructions from the ministry.
He said Zanu-PF and Kasukuwere had no role to play in the suspension of the entire Gweru councillors.
Clr Kombayi, however, spewed venom at the parent ministry's permanent secretary, Engineer George Mlilo, and the ministry's director of human resources, Erica Jones, for allegedly misleading Kasukuwere into suspending them so that they could appoint directors of their choice to run the affairs of council.
"Zanu-PF has nothing to do with my suspension and I have nothing against my newly appointed Minister (Saviour) Kasukuwere because we never engaged each other on the issues affecting Gweru.
"The problem that I have is that of the permanent secretary and the head of human resources, Erica Jones, who misinformed the minister to push this agenda so that they appoint heads of department of their choice at council," he said at a Press conference here yesterday.
Clr Kombayi, his deputy Artwell Manyorauta and 14 other councillors were suspended by Kasukuwere on Thursday on allegations of gross misconduct, incompetence and mismanagement of council funds and affairs.
Thirteen of the suspended councillors are from MDC-T and three are from the ruling party Zanu-PF.
Clr Kombayi's comment comes at a time when MDC-T national spokesperson Obert Gutu came out guns blazing attacking Zanu-PF and Kasukuwere saying:
"True to his political mandate to decimate the MDC in all urban areas ahead of the watershed 2018 harmonised elections, the newly appointed Local Government Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, has decimated operations of a whole town by unconstitutionally dismissing two MDC councillors and suspending 13 others in the Midlands City of Gweru."
Gutu said the suspensions by the minister were "unlawful and ultra vires" the new constitution. He urged the suspended councillors to report to duty as normal.
Clr Kombayi was non-committal on the next step the councillors would take, saying that they will come up with a position when they "convene."
Gweru City Council has been operating without substantive heads of department and only the director of finance, Edgar Mwedzi, is substantive.
The Director of Health Services, Chamber Secretary, City Engineer and Director of Housing and Community Services are all acting.
Kasukuwere gave councillors a 10-day ultimatum to fill the vacancies which the local authority ignored, citing a number of reasons. They questioned, among other things, the inclusion of the provincial administrator, Cecilia Chitiyo, who had been seconded as part of the recruitment team.
The councillors argued that Chitiyo could be involved in the affairs of council.
Clr Kombayi said yesterday that the local authority was to blame for failing to follow simple instructions from the ministry.
He said Zanu-PF and Kasukuwere had no role to play in the suspension of the entire Gweru councillors.
Clr Kombayi, however, spewed venom at the parent ministry's permanent secretary, Engineer George Mlilo, and the ministry's director of human resources, Erica Jones, for allegedly misleading Kasukuwere into suspending them so that they could appoint directors of their choice to run the affairs of council.
"Zanu-PF has nothing to do with my suspension and I have nothing against my newly appointed Minister (Saviour) Kasukuwere because we never engaged each other on the issues affecting Gweru.
"The problem that I have is that of the permanent secretary and the head of human resources, Erica Jones, who misinformed the minister to push this agenda so that they appoint heads of department of their choice at council," he said at a Press conference here yesterday.
Clr Kombayi, his deputy Artwell Manyorauta and 14 other councillors were suspended by Kasukuwere on Thursday on allegations of gross misconduct, incompetence and mismanagement of council funds and affairs.
Thirteen of the suspended councillors are from MDC-T and three are from the ruling party Zanu-PF.
"True to his political mandate to decimate the MDC in all urban areas ahead of the watershed 2018 harmonised elections, the newly appointed Local Government Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, has decimated operations of a whole town by unconstitutionally dismissing two MDC councillors and suspending 13 others in the Midlands City of Gweru."
Gutu said the suspensions by the minister were "unlawful and ultra vires" the new constitution. He urged the suspended councillors to report to duty as normal.
Clr Kombayi was non-committal on the next step the councillors would take, saying that they will come up with a position when they "convene."
Gweru City Council has been operating without substantive heads of department and only the director of finance, Edgar Mwedzi, is substantive.
The Director of Health Services, Chamber Secretary, City Engineer and Director of Housing and Community Services are all acting.
Kasukuwere gave councillors a 10-day ultimatum to fill the vacancies which the local authority ignored, citing a number of reasons. They questioned, among other things, the inclusion of the provincial administrator, Cecilia Chitiyo, who had been seconded as part of the recruitment team.
The councillors argued that Chitiyo could be involved in the affairs of council.
Source - chronicle
