Councillors accused of death threats over allowances dispute

Two City of Harare councillors, Zodiac Duri and Austin Munamba, allegedly threatened Acting Chamber Secretary Warren Chiwawa with death after he refused to authorise allowances for a trip to Victoria Falls, raising tensions within the capital's local authority.

The dispute stems from a trip undertaken by the councillors to attend the COP15 Convention in Victoria Falls. Chiwawa said he refused to approve their travel and subsistence allowances because the trip lacked ministerial approval, making the request unprocedural and in violation of a directive from the Ministry of Local Government.

"There are two councillors who came to my office in the morning, Councillor Duri and Councillor Munamba threatening me with death and unspecified action because they were trying to force me to authorise their travel and subsistence allowances," Chiwawa told ZiFM Stereo after raising the matter during a full council meeting.

"I said I couldn't process that because they went there without ministerial approval so I said I couldn't process for their allowances in violation of the ministerial directive."

Chiwawa said councillors should ordinarily raise concerns through their Chief Whip or the Mayor, rather than resorting to intimidation.

The two councillors later failed to attend the council meeting where Chiwawa made the allegations, raising suspicion among some members that they may have sought to silence him through threats.

Chiwawa said he intends to report the matter to both the police and the Ministry of Local Government for further action.

The allegations come amid growing scrutiny of local authorities across Zimbabwe, where disputes over allowances, travel expenses and procurement have frequently led to accusations of abuse of office, infighting, and misconduct among councillors.