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Dr Chombo announced early this year that he had dismissed Clr Zhou as town council chairman over allegations of abuse of office and corruption.
It, however, emerged that Clr Zhou later received a letter of suspension with Minister Chombo appointing an investigating team to look into allegations of corruption and abuse of office.
The former town council chairman, who has been facing criminal charges over the same allegations, however, had the charges withdrawn before Zvishavane magistrate Mr Peter Madiba on Tuesday last week. The State could not provide evidence in the alleged corruption and abuse of office.
Clr Zhou, who was jointly charged with acting Housing and Community Services director Mr Abisha Phiri over allegations of corruptly selling residential stands, had their case withdrawn before plea.
In an interview, Clr Zhou said he has since written to the Minister through the Midlands Provincial Administrator’s office seeking reinstatement after being cleared by the courts.
“I did not receive any letter of dismissal from the Minister as has been reported. I only received a letter of suspension and after being cleared by the courts on allegations of abuse of office and corruption, I am now seeking to be reinstated as Zvishavane Town Council chairman. I have since written to the Minister through the Provincial Administrator (PA) Ms Cecilia Chitiyo to have my suspension lifted,” he said.
Clr Zhou said he was yet to receive the report of the findings of the ministerial investigating team on Zvishavane Town Council.
He said he was confident of lreclaiming his job and was now waiting to get a response from the PA’s office before he could seek recourse from the courts.
“At the moment, I am still waiting for the response from the PA’s office before I take any legal route but I am hopeful that I will get my job back because I know my hands are clean,” said Clr Zhou.
Meanwhile, cracks have emerged within the Zvishavane Town Council with councillors reportedly positioning themselves to take over the chairmanship following the “dismissal” of Clr Zhou.
Sources within town house told Chronicle that about six councillors were vying for the same post, a situation which they said had created serious divisions within the local authority.
The sources said two rival factions have emerged, one reportedly led by the acting Town Council chairman, Clr Patron Taruvinga, while the other faction aligned to Clr Pardon Mshipe.
“These factions have divided the council and each group is desperate to buy allegiance to the council management. This has resulted in the council being highly ungovernable with kangaroo meetings taking centre stage at the town house,” said a source.
The sources said Ms Chitiyo recently dispatched her assistant, Mr Thompson Siziba, to calm the rising tension within the Zvishavane town house.
“Recently, Mr Siziba came to Zvishavane for a meeting with council management and councillors over the chairmanship wrangle. Mr Siziba was candid during his address as he told both those aspiring for the post to wait for the verdict on Zhou’s suspension instead of disturbing council business while fighting for the post before it was officially declared vacant,” said the source.
Contacted for comment, Zvishavane Acting town secretary, Mr Max Mugandani confirmed having a meeting with Mr Siziba.
Mr Mugandani, however, downplayed the meeting they held with the PA representative, opting to describe the discussions as a “general meeting”.
“Yes, Mr Siziba visited council and touched on the issue of the council chairman post but that was not the thrust of the meeting. It was a full council meeting in which we only invited him as an official from the PA’s office not that there were any burning issues on the council chairman’s post.
“In as far as we are concerned, Clr Zhou is on suspension and we are waiting for the Government’s investigation team’s findings and there is no way people would fight for the chairman’s post before those findings are known,” he said.
Online Reporter