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Harare City Council finally decided to terminate a two-year contract with its town clerk Mr James Mushore last week. Mr Mushore was suspended soon after appointment as town clerk in April last year because the appointment was unprocedural, that is, not in line with the Urban Councils Act.
Outside of bad politics, Harare residents would not worry about what council does with its employees so long as it acts within the law.
Unfortunately, Harare residents are not so lucky. We have been forced to take an interest in the Mushore case because Harare City Council chose to play politics rather than go by the book. And before we could digest the news of the termination of contract, we are told another town clerk will be appointed soon, just to make sure the pay cheque for a town clerk is processed without a break.
The Urban Councils Act requires three names of those who excel in interviews for the post of town clerk to be referred to the Local Government ministry for approval before the winner can be confirmed. The council ignored this step, chiefly because it is an MDC-T-led council and wanted its preferred candidate at Town House.
The next sensible thing would have been for council to rescind Mr Mushore’s appointment on agreed terms seeing Government did not approve. This is not what council did, forcing him to take the litigation route where the High Court confirmed Mr Mushore’s appointment.
The result was that even if Mr Mushore could not be reinstated as town clerk, he remained an employee of council for more than a year, in the process costing Harare residents (not Harare councillors and their party) a whopping $165 000 minus the services of a substantive town clerk. (It is a moot question whether the residents felt the absence.)
While sitting at home, Mr Mushore remained entitled to fuel, airtime and a council vehicle, and a monthly pay cheque of more than $10 000. (Meanwhile, hardworking low level employees were going for months without getting their meagre wages.)
Like we indicated earlier, what irks us the most is not what council does with its employees. The issue is one of lack of accountability and the decision to play political games while city residents meet the costs. It is the residents, who now must meet the cost of the stupidity of keeping Mr Mushore on the council’s payroll for political reasons when his contract could have been terminated the moment it was realised procedures had not been followed.
And there are no consequences for those who ignored clear procedures because they are big political creatures. The residents simply have to pay for a shoddy act which comes on top of poor service delivery by council.
As if that were not bad enough, news of Mr Mushore’s replacement is announced in the same breath as the termination of his contract.
Why the unseemly haste? What is it that Mr Mushore should have done, which the next guy is rushing in to accomplish? If the position of a substantive town clerk is so critical why was the nation’s capital allowed to go for more than a year, from April last year to August this year, without one? Is the next guy supposed to compensate the residents for such loss of service, if any?
Finally, we find it most insulting that Harare residents are made to shoulder the cost of political games by councillors, who are let off the hook scot-free.
It is a dangerous culture of impunity for both incompetency and wilful violation of procedures laid out in the law. Harare residents are being taken too much for granted. There is need for close monitoring of elected councillors, especially whether they are qualified to meet the needs of a modern city. Party slogans should never be treated as operational manuals.
Online Reporter