Chombo suspends Gwanda mayor

The Minister of Local government, Ignatius Chombo, has suspended Gwanda Municipality's vocal mayor Lionel De Necker with immediate effect.

De Necker got his shock suspension letter on Thursday morning.

He posted on his tweeter account, "Just received a letter of suspension from Minister Chombo for councils refusal to appoint Mrs P Nkala as Chamber Secretary for Gwanda. As a party (MDC) we will not be moved."

Chombo said to De Necker: "Following your deliberate defiance of my directive of 30 November 2010, issued in terms of section 314 of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15), directing council to appoint Mrs P Nkala as the substantive Chamber Secretary for Gwanda Municipality as approved by the Local Government Board, I hereby in terms of Section 114 of the afore-cited Act, suspend you from being a councilor for Gwanda, with immediate effect."

"After you received my directive, you proceeded to challenge the activities of the Local Government Board appointed to carry out its responsibilities as specified in the Urban Council Act. Furthermore you even questioned the credibility of the Local; Government Board which was setup in terms of the laws thus undermining the powers of the minister and the board" added Chombo in a letter dated April 4

De Necker, a councilor for ward 10 would go without pay during his banishment.