Over 500 house owners in Centenary, Mashonaland Central province, have petitioned for the sacking of Muzarabani Rural District Council (MRDC) chief executive officer Ennie Gachiwa over allegations of corruption, abuse of office and gross mismanagement.
Gachiwa has been on the helm of MRDC for over 12 years and in 2021 she was arrested for criminal abuse of office by detectives from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc).
The residents allege that funds intended for the development of the district have been misappropriated, leaving critical infrastructure in disrepair and neglecting service delivery in the district.
Allegations of nepotism within council have also been raised further irking the residents.
In a show of unity and vote of no confidence for Gachiwa and her entire executive, 500 residents have signed the petition appealing for the firing of the MRDC leadership.
“We the undersigned, hereby petition for the removal of Ennie Gwachiwa due to gross incompetence. The evidence outlined below demonstrate Gwachiwa’s inability to effectively lead Muzarabani Rural District Council,” read part of the petition gleaned by NewsDay addressed to the permanent secretary in the Local Government and Public Works ministry copied to the Resident Minister, the District Development Coordinator, the War Veterans League, traditional leader, Chief Chiweshe Mukorekore of Muzarabani and Muzarabani South Member of Parliament-cum-deputy Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Benjamin Kabikira.
“The CEO’s primary responsibility is to drive the company’s success and consistently failing to meet financial or strategic goals is a red flag to us residents. We, therefore, propose that Gwachiwa be replaced with a more competent individual who can effectively lead Muzarabani Rural District Council towards its goals. We believe this change is necessary to ensure the success and sustainability of our local authority.”
The petition further reads: “On November 22, 2024, the special full council sat to adopt the budget which was supposed to take note of special requests from the residents which were clearly ignored. We take the budget very seriously and are reviewing it in detail.
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Further, given the interference and manipulation of the narrative, it is our opinion that management, intentionally misrepresented or omitted key information in order to ensure that the budget and its related rate hikes would be approved by the house.”
According to the residents, Gwachiwa has no appetite for development and she has disrespected the core values of council.
“There have never been any local action plans, growth targets and redevelopment programmes. There has never been development control. She has failed because of habitual distrust, aloofness, mischievousness and lack of urgency. We, therefore, want her to go because there is a weak and unfixable fit between her skills and the needs of the area committee,” the petition read.
“The form of our neighbourhoods is not aesthetically pleasing. You cannot keep on collecting money for streetlights for over 10 years and have only 10 streetlights in the whole area. We live in communities where health hazards are no longer perceived as such by the residents as it has become normal to them. We have no sewage ponds, we have 200sqm stands with wells and septic tanks on that same stand and it has been normalised in the whole of Centenary.
“These concerns and issues require immediate attention and the resolution made will ensure the effective functioning of council and the well-being of the community.”
Chairperson of the Centenary Residency Association, Collen Ndudzo, confirmed to NewsDay that ratepayers are not happy with the handling of business at Muzarabani Rural District Council by Gachiwa and her executive.
He said letters detailing residents’ concerns had been written to key government and community leaders.
“For a long time, we have been dissatisfied with the performance of the Muzarabani Rural District Council chief executive officer and her executive. Public funds have been misappropriated. There has been clear abuse of office and gross mismanagement under Gachiwa’s leadership. We cannot fold our hands and watch as she runs down our council, Muzarabani residents deserve better,” he said.
“As a way of demanding transparency and accountability as the people of Muzarabani, we have signed a petition and written to key government departments and our Member of Parliament, Cde Benjamini Kabikira as well as community leaders.”
Ndudzo said the association represented the will of the people and they were determined to pursue residents’ demands, until they were met.
“The people of Muzarabani have spoken. We will not stop until we see accountability restored in our district council. Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo (the nation is built by its citizens) and we are the people who have to develop this Centenary area to a town,” he said.
The residents have also expressed frustration over council’s alleged disregard for accountability. They claim that numerous attempts to engage council on financial matters have been ignored, leaving them with no choice, but to call for the dismissal of the council leadership.
“Since Gachiwa occupied the MRDC CEO post from September 1 in 2012, we have seen no meaningful development in the district. Instead, we hear of funds disappearing without explanation. It is time for her and the entire executive to go,” said one resident who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation.
“The resident are now tired of this council leadership. The residents no longer have confidence in the administration of funds by council as a result of on multi-practices in its bookkeeping systems. In as far as we are behind the President’s vision 2030 and call to action, the call to action requires council to deliver first providing services to citizens. The council is not delivering, not transparent rather, its persecuting its citizens.”
The residents are also calling on Zacc to launch an investigation into council leadership’s activities.
“An independent audit is essential to uncover the extent of corruption and mismanagement. We have done our best to take our grievances to the highest offices and we hope that action will be taken swiftly,” he said.
“Many companies (names withheld) have been wanting to invest in Centenary, but have not been able to do so as council is accused of demanding bribes. Some of the companies ended up setting up in Mt Darwin. Investors are being shunned away and immediately leave for other local authorities with better reception and investment opportunities (sic). We have lost a lot of investors.”
Chief Chiweshe Mukorekore of Muzarabani, born Matthew Chitemamuswe confirmed to NewsDay that he has been notified about the residents grievances.
“Yes, I have been made aware of the concerns being raised by the residents against Muzarabani Rural District Council’s executive. There are serious allegations being raised which calls for investigation for the sake of development in our area,” he said.
“There is need for timely intervention by authorities so that the issues are solved. We are for development in Muzarabani. We need to complement our President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vision, we are for development not corruption.”
Gwachiwa did not respond to questions sent to her by NewsDay.
