The recent circus at Chitungwiza where Local Government minister July Moyo, like Ignatius Chombo before him, has gone and shamelessly poked his political nose into affairs of council is regrettable.
Moyo last week suspended six Chitungwiza municipality councillors who had attended a council meeting that resolved to elect a substantive mayor after the town had gone for over six months without full council meetings because the acting mayor, Kiven Mutimbanyoka — a Moyo and Zanu PF choice, was refusing to hold elections.
Mutimbanyoka, an appointee of Moyo had been frustrating efforts to hold fresh mayoral elections, arguing the matter was before the High Court.
The suspended six, all Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) councillors, took part in a council meeting that voted and elected Lovemore Maiko as substantive mayor of Chitungwiza much to the chagrin of Moyo.
Moyo’s stance in defence of rotten administrators and city fathers is well documented and really, given his penchant to personally running local authorities, hardly surprising.
Moyo suspended Maiko, former deputy mayor Musa Makweza, council chief whip (CCC) Richard Chamutsa and councillors Kudakwashe John, Peter Matiringe and Chengetai Magondo.
They were all accused of convening an “illegal” meeting which reinstated Maiko. That was besides the fact that Moyo’s permanent secretary, Zvinechimwe Churu had given council the greenlight to hold the elections, according to Maiko and fellow councillors.
“Moyo was aware that Chitungwiza had gone for six months without a full council and committee meetings. He is also aware that councillors on numerous occasions requested to elect a substantive mayor. Apart from that, Local Government ministry secretary Zvinechimwe Churu gave the greenlight to hold elections,” Maiko said.
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Chitungwiza Residents and Ratepayers Association chairperson Arthur Taderera said: “I think this is a well-orchestrated plan to render CCC-led councils powerless.”
It has become Moyo’s modus operandi to dictate to local authorities, imposing his own people into high offices while seeking to kick out elected CCC officials everywhere until cities go down on their knees, without service delivery and unable to pay their workers. After that, he doesn’t want to be associated with the attendant problems.
There is every evidence that service delivery in our cities and towns has decayed under the stewardship of meddlesome ministers like Chombo and now Moyo.
The current spat between Moyo and the Chitungwiza municipality exposes once again the arrogant, heavy hand and suspicious manner with which the minister rules local authorities.
The city fathers of Chitungwiza, Harare and indeed all councils countrywide, are obviously much better-placed to know individuals that are able to serve their cities and towns than July Moyo can ever be.
It boggles the mind why the minister would get so irked that the Chitungwiza city fathers rejected Mutimbanyoka and chose Maiko. That is the arrogance and impunity that develops when politics, greed and dishonesty outrun reason.
