By NQOBANI NDLOVU
The dispute between a faction of MDC Alliance councillors and Bulawayo City Council (BCC) management, which exploded into the public domain last week, started brewing in 2014 when the city fathers tried to interfere with procurement processes, investigations have revealed.
Councillors who have roots in the MDC led by Nelson Chamisa and coalescing around deputy mayor Tinashe Kambarami made a shock move to suspend town clerk Christopher Dube after accusing him of corruption and incompetence.
The purported suspension was lifted the following day by mayor Solomon Mguni, who had to cut short his leave to douse the flames.
Mguni was a member of the MDC led by Welshman Ncube before the two MDC factions re-united ahead of last year’s elections under the MDC Alliance banner.
The mayor and a section of councillors are against the push to oust Dube.
According to insiders, Kambarami and councillors such as Donaldson Mabuto, Felix Mhaka, Ernest Rafomoyo, Silas Chigora, Tawanda Ruzive and Rodney Jele wanted to boot out Dube and other council directors for allegedly frustrating their moves to usurp the powers of the council particularly on matters relating to tender and procurement processes.
It has since emerged that Dube first wrote to the government on April 6, 2018 raising alarm over attempts by the council to take control of procurement processes and allocation of housing stands in violation of the law.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
He said the dispute related to the city’s parking management system and servicing of stands.
In 2014, four companies submitted bids and applications to service stands on behalf of council, but management advised that the services must be tendered out in the interest of transparency.
The matter was set aside, only for the councillors to revive it a couple of years later demanding that the companies be considered for the service.
“These issues were observed by the investigations team when there were allegations of mismanagement and corruption in 2016 and it appears the city is going back to the situation then,” Dube said in the letter addressed to Local Government secretary George Magosvongwe.
“Councillors cannot usurp powers of the legally mandated structures within the local authority as provided for by the legislation.
“Intervention is, therefore, sought in view of the fact that the council position is likely to have consequences that amount to an illegality and can contribute to eroding investor confidence in investing in the city.”
He said although the frustrations of the councillors on delays were understandable, council was obliged to abide by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act.
Dube said the same applied to the issue of the parking management system contract, which was being delayed because of litigation in the courts.
In a response dated May 2, 2018, Magosvongwe said the government was worried about the councillors’ interference.
“Any attempt by any person — official or councillor — to influence the Procurement Management Unit (PMU) is ultra-vires and will not be tolerated,” he wrote.
“Under the new order, councillors have no part to play in the procurement process.”
The attempt to suspend Dube by Kambarami and his allies has exposed widening divisions among councillors amid claims of tribalism and factionalism.
A legal think-tank, the Centre for Legal Research and Advocacy, in a commentary said Dube’s “suspension” was a violation of the Urban Councils Act, which does not give a deputy mayor powers to order the town clerk’s suspension.
“If it appears to the mayor or chairman, as the case may be, that the town clerk of the council has been guilty of such conduct, that it is desirable that the town clerk should not be permitted to carry on his work, he may suspend the town clerk from office and require him forthwith to leave his place of work,” the think-tank’s director Sindiso Mazibisa said.
Local Government minister July Moyo also weighed in saying due processes were not followed in Dube’s suspension.
“A normal procedure would have given the chamber secretary the right to see the town clerk going out and proper hand-over of whatever the town clerk was doing, there should have been a proper hand-over with the chamber secretary, but the chamber secretary says she was not involved,” Moyo told journalists on Friday.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association acting coordinator Emmanuel Ndlovu said the interference by councillors must not be tolerated.
“Charges aside, the whole thing is a sideshow to cover up grand-scale corruption,” he said.
“We are of the view that BCC needs to be investigated. We would rather have a caretaker commission than this circus.”
On Friday evening a group of residents stormed the City Hall, which houses council offices, demanding the ouster of the councillors.
