THE outgoing Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (Ucaz) president Abel Matsika (pictured) was conspicuously absent from the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected CCC councillors in Karoi last week.
This immediately sent tongues wagging that he had snubbed the ceremony.
Matsika, a Zanu PF member and the outgoing Karoi Town Council chairperson, has, however, dismissed the allegations that he snubbed the event after the ruling party failed to win a single seat out of the 10 wards in last month’s harmonised elections.
In an interview over the weekend, Matsika said he received the invitation late.
“I did not snub the swearing-in ceremony of our newly-elected councillors. The invitation came late and it was like an afterthought by the organisers,” he claimed.
“If they had made the invitation on time I could have attended. As elected public officers we come and go, but the towns and cities remain.”
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Insisting that he was a professional, Matsika said: “Karoi Town Council curved my beautiful piece of history to the extent of becoming Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe president. This is not a mean feat.
“To add value to my political career, I was conferred with aldermanship status on the last full council meeting. I am available for anything so long my new schedule is permissive.”
Pointing out that the outgoing Zanu PF-led council had done quite well, he added: “We look back with pride as a council. We brought massive investment in Karoi including purchasing service delivery equipment, putting an end to a land dispute with a local farmer whose farm was acquired under Operation Garikayi.
“We also have by-laws that will make governance easy for the new council. We call for cooperation from all stakeholders so that Karoi can develop better.
“For now, it’s a sabbatical politically. I am busy with my books and businesses. I am not ruling out a political comeback in the long run because I still want to bring the urban voters for our party. Anything out of that is speculation and rumour that I am not privy to.”
However, during his tenure Karoi Town Council battled to shrug off the massive rot exposed by then Auditor-General Mildred Chiri in the town’s housing department.
The council also struggled to recover US$100 000 paid for a 20-tonne refuse truck that was never delivered by Solution Motors in 2017.