The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
CITY of Mutare has finally appointed a substantive Town Clerk, two years after the death of the former head of the local authority, Mr Joshua Maligwa.
Mutare Mayor, Councillor Simon Chabuka confirmed that the successful candidate is Mr Kumbirai Madanhi who has been serving the Ruwa Local Board.
“The successful candidate is Mr Kumbirai Madanhi who has been with the Ruwa Local Board. The process is underway, but very soon he will be in office,” said Councillor Chabuka.
The Mayor’s announcement puts to rest speculations that councillors at City of Mutare were reluctant to abide by the Local Government Board’s recommendation for Mr Madanhi’s appointment.
The Manica Post understands that councillors at Town House wanted the current Acting Town Clerk, Mr Blessing Chafesuka, to be appointed as the substantive Town Clerk.
They went out of their way to seek legal advice on how the process could be twisted so that Mr Chafesuka could be appointed.
The councillors argued that Mr Chafesuka executed his duties diligently when he was the acting Town Clerk.
He, however, had not applied for the job and the appointment process had already been concluded.
“It is work in progress. The Press will be advised but all I can say is that a new Town Clerk will be joining us soon. We have finished the recruitment processes.
“The Local Government Board has, in terms of the law, finished its processes and they have recommended the appointment of the successful candidate. The successful candidate will be joining the City of Mutare soon. Council is now expected to approve his appointment,” said Councillor Chabuka.
Over the past two years since Mr Maligwa’s death, Dr Antony Mutara, the former City of Mutare’s health director, was appointed the local authority’s chief executive on an acting basis.
However, Dr Mutara was embroiled in a corruption related case which eventually saw him leaving the local authority.
Dr Mutara was, however, later absolved of any wrongdoing upon appealing against both his sentence and conviction in a superior court of law.
Engineer Tinashe Mtetwa then held the fort, again on an acting basis, but it was not long before he was also relieved of his duties for being away without official leave as well as disobeying lawful instructions from his superior.
This led to incumbent Mr Chafesuka, the local authority’s finance director, being appointed Acting Town Clerk.
The late Mr Maligwa landed the Town Clerk post in 2017, replacing Mr Obert Muzawazi, who had resigned following a string of corruption allegations.
Mr Maligwa died in January 2021.
