Chronicle Editor
Midlands Bureau
Twenty-four applicants have expressed interest in assuming the post of Gweru City Council (GCC) town clerk, which has remained vacant since 2019.
Since then, the local authority has been functioning with interim officers, and residents blame this for the council’s failure to provide efficient service delivery.
The local authority had set December 4 as the deadline for application submissions and there has been an overwhelming response from potential candidates.
Gweru mayor, Councillor Martin Chivhoko, confirmed that a total of 24 applications have been received for the position of town clerk.
He said the local authority would soon be conducting interviews to select the most suitable candidate for the role.
“We are happy that we are going to have a new town clerk after we closed the applications on December 4. A total of 24 people have applied for the vacant town clerk post. We are going to have a substantive town clerk who will fulfil our mandate and wishes,” said Clr Chivhoko.
He said the appointment of a substantive town clerk is crucial for Gweru, as it will bring stability and direction to the local authority’s operations.
“We heard that town clerks come and go, but even if we engage a substantive town clerk, if he or she fails to perform to the satisfaction of the residents, he or she will go and we engage another one until we get the best candidate,” he said.
Gweru City Council was left without a substantive town clerk when Ms Elizabeth Gwatipedza was fired after she was found guilty of three charges that included disobeying a lawful order to submit her contract of employment and those of other departmental heads.
She was also found guilty of gross incompetence in the performance of her work as she failed to comply with the audit and supervise the finance department.
After her dismissal, GCC appointed Mr Vakai Douglas Chikwekwe who was the substantive chamber secretary as the acting town clerk.
He resigned from the post of substantive chamber secretary and acting town clerk after serving council for six years and five months.
In his resignation letter, Mr Chikwekwe said he was stepping down “due to continuous persecution, victimization, duress and undue influence exerted by the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) councillors.
He resigned after being suspended by GCC following his arrest by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) for allegedly violating tender procedures.
Mr Chikwekwe’s criminal abuse of office matter was, however, withdrawn before plea before the then Gweru provincial magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe.
After his resignation as both the chamber secretary and acting town clerk in July this year, he was replaced by the finance director Mr Livingstone Churu, who is the current acting town clerk.
Online Reporter