5 vie for Kwekwe town clerk post

Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau
Five candidates are eyeing the Kwekwe town clerk’s post and the city has already submitted their names to the Local Government Board for further vetting.

Kwekwe City has been without a substantive town clerk since September last year after one of the local authority’s long-serving town clerks, Mr Emmanuel Musara, retired.

Mrs Lucia Mkandla, who is the city chamber secretary, has been the acting town clerk and is among the five candidates vying for the council’s top job.

Other candidates are acting finance director for Gweru City Council Mr Owen Masimba, Chitungwiza housing director Mrs Hazel Sithole, Mr Edward Mapara, who is with the Law Society of Zimbabwe, and another only identified as Mr Siziba.

Kwekwe Deputy Mayor Councillor Shadreck Tobaiwa said the interviews for the vacant post were held early this week and the shortlist had already been submitted to the Local Government Board.

“There is a private human resources company that was hired to assist with the interviews and we were part of the process as councillors,” he said.

“There are five candidates whom were interviewed but there were three candidates who were then shortlisted.”

Cllr Tobaiwa declined to reveal the full list of names of the shortlisted candidates and how they fared. Sources who spoke to The Herald said Mr Masimba, who impressed during the interviews, was leading the pack closely followed by Mr Mapara, who has previously worked at the local authority as the chamber secretary.

Ms Mkhandla, who was initially tipped to take over from Mr Musara, reportedly failed to impress and was a distant fourth. “Everyone at Town House has been tipping Mrs Mkhandla after she was nurtured by Mr Musara but, surprisingly, she was a distant fourth,” said the source.

The sources said Mr Masimba did not only impress during the interviews but had the best educational qualifications.

“He was also one of the most experienced employees having served for over 17 years at Gweru City Council,” said the source. “He also presented a number of educational qualifications which included a Doctorate in Financial Management, a Bachelor of Law Degree and an MBA among others. His only other rival was Mr Mapara, who only had the advantage of having worked at Kwekwe City Council before.”