Zimbabwe govt, Harare council on collision course

Harare City councillors are potentially clashing with the Government over the forced transfer of Dr. Funny Machipisa, Deputy Director of Human Services in the Department of Housing and Community Services, to another department.

Dr. Machipisa is allegedly being punished for following a Ministry directive on stand allocations to councillors, which restricts them to single discounted stands in their wards.

The councillors, unhappy with this restriction, prefer stands in affluent suburbs. The Human Resources and General Purposes Committee has plotted to move Dr. Machipisa to the Department of Excellence, a department with an unclear purpose, under the pretext of utilizing his qualifications.

Ward 3 Councillor Simbarashe Chanachimwe, implicated in this plot, denied knowledge and deferred questions to the Human Resources Department. Committee chairperson Councillor George Mujajati confirmed the reassignment plans, stating it aims to enhance governance operations by placing qualified individuals in the Department of Excellence.

This development comes amidst broader scrutiny of Harare City Council's financial and management practices, prompting President Mnangagwa to establish a Commission of Inquiry chaired by Justice Maphios Cheda. The commission, including other commissioners and the Local Government Permanent Secretary Dr. John Basera, will investigate local governance from 2017 to present and report findings within six months, with a possible extension of three months.