HARARE councillors allegedly fired council’s acting human capital director ahead of the August 2023 elections to facilitate the recruitment of party youths into the city’s police force to entice them to vote favourably in the polls, an inquiry heard yesterday.
The allegations emerged during the commission of inquiry hearing recently where the acting human capital director Bozman Matengarufu was giving evidence.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed the commission led by retired judge Justice Maphios Cheda to investigate corruption and financial mismanagement at Town House in May last year.
The commission’s evidence leader Thabani Mpofu said they were told that increased employment of personnel in the police department soon after the elections was ascribed to councillors rewarding youths they perceived to had voted for them in the previous elections.
In response, Matengarufu said he only served until just before the elections addind that their office followed standard recruitment procedures.
“Unfortunately, soon after elections, I was no longer the director. But I know the recruitment process of the Harare municipal police team as well as the general employees, which are the entry points for city council.
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“Yes, so I was saying the process, I think it started around February or January of 2023 when I was still in office. And the procedure was, we had received a request from the head of department of the HMP (Harare Municipal Police) to say we want some employees.”
“From a human resources point of view, we verified the records to see whether they are real vacancies and whether there was a need to fill them or to have new recruits.
“Having ascertained that, we then wrote as a procedure to the Minister of Local Government for authority to recruit externally. The authority was then granted while I was still in office.”
He said procedures were followed including the interviews with the recruits running to assess their fitness.
“Then I handed over to retired major Matthew Marara, now my boss, to finalise the recruitment process by maybe appointing those who had successfully made it,” he said.
Asked to comment on the view that he was removed prior to the elections to facilitate the recruitment, he said it was very difficult for him to deny the assertions.
“What I remember is that I was an enemy of both the councillors and some members of my group. Well, it could be true. I cannot deny that, because that is why yesterday I was saying I was a victim,” Matengarufu said.
He said councillors clashed with him over recruitment procedures.
“To such an extent that at one of the meetings, I had to say, if you feel I cannot advise you as your HR director, you can remove me and I thought that was a response maybe to my utterance, why I was then removed,” he said.