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Addressing thousands of Zanu-PF supporters at a rally at Stanley Square in Bulawayo, Minister Chombo said he had now run out of patience as council continued to disrespect his directive.
“We appointed special interest councillors and the local authority refused to accept them. We went on to appoint others later on and still they refused to swear them in. Now we have appointed a son of Bulawayo who has three degrees from the National University of Science and Technology and still they cannot swear him in.
“In our culture, the first and second mistakes are usually not chargeable and not fought over, but now on this third one, the council has declared war on me. I am a Christian, I pray and do not like fighting but the council has pushed me too far, they have started a war,” said Minister Chombo.
The well-attended rally was organised by the Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial leadership with the aim of setting the tone for the revival of industry in Bulawayo. Mr Fengu also attended the rally, which drew Zanu-PF members from across Bulawayo, ministers and deputy ministers from the party.
In an interview after the rally, Minister Chombo said: “Give it three days, it will be done or someone will be out of office. Call me on Wednesday morning and we will be talking something different”.
A fortnight ago, Minister Chombo gave the local authority an ultimatum to swear in Mr Fengu or risk having the Town Clerk, Mr Middleton Nyoni, getting fired.
The council was last week reportedly in a panic mode following the lapse of the deadline on 18 January. The local authority held an emergency meeting on Monday last week as it apparently battled to resolve the issue before Minister Chombo, who was outside the country, returned.
The council’s argument is that Dr Chombo had exceeded the number of special interest councillors he was empowered to appoint in terms of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15) as he had appointed eight special interest councillors for Bulawayo in 2008 and added Mr Fengu last year. The Act allows him to appoint seven.
However, Minister Chombo has said the eight councillors were never sworn into office so they cannot be counted as having been appointed.
At a council meeting on 4 December last year, councillors resolved to write a letter to him seeking an explanation over Mr Fengu’s appointment.
In the letter, one of the suggestions was to sue Minister Chombo over the issue, challenging the manner in which he used his discretion, as stated in the Act, to appoint Mr Fengu. They argued that it was “senseless” for the minister to appoint a special interest councillor a few months before the current council’s tenure ends.
The matter has spilt to the courts as Mr Jack Matshazi, a Bulawayo ratepayer recently filed an urgent chamber application through his lawyer, Mr Job Sibanda, of Job Sibanda and Associates seeking an order to bar the council from swearing in Mr Fengu.
Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Lawrence Kamocha granted an interim order interdicting Mr Nyoni from swearing in Mr Fengu.
Mr Matshazi argues in his papers that he has been disabled since birth and is familiar with the names of most people who act for the benefit of people with disabilities in Bulawayo, but has never seen Mr Fengu’s name.
Minister Chombo who is the first respondent in the matter has not yet responded to the application.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter