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Abel Zhakata
Senior Reporter
THE ghost of deceased former Mutare Town Clerk – Mr Joshua Maligwa – has come back to haunt city fathers who are quarrelling over the disbursement of his benefits to his estate.
While those opposed to the payment of the package have proposed consulting the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, Mutare Mayor, Councillor Blessing Tandi has vowed to settle the dispute without consulting the parent ministry.
Mr Maligwa succumbed to Covid-19 early this year.
Two weeks ago, management at the Civic Centre wrote a memo recommending that, among other things, the council pays out US$88 500 to the estate of the deceased to compensate for the motor vehicle the local authority was supposed to buy him.
lt was also recommended that Mutare City Council should allocate a high density, a commercial and an industrial stand to the late Town Clerk’s estate.
The package was however met with mixed feelings, with some sections of society saying council is not in a financial position to make such hefty payments, while some were in agreement with the recommendations.
During a full council meeting held last week, the issue was on the agenda and some councillors argued that the municipality has other pressing issues to attend to, while others said the late Town Clerk’s benefits should be paid to his family right away.
In an interview with The Manica Post on Tuesday, Mutare Mayor, Councillor Blessing Tandi said the former Town Clerk deserves the benefits as his served the local authority diligently.
“We need to understand what we offered our late Town Clerk in his contract, as well as what we are supposed to pay as terminal benefits. We were supposed to get him a vehicle but we failed to do so.
“The vehicle he was using did not belong to City of Mutare, it belonged to Rusape Town Council, his former employer. That is why we are supposed to honour the motor vehicle issue. He was was entitled to it. Besides, he changed the face of Mutare in a few years,” said Councillor Tandi.
The Mayor said payment of such benefits is not a new thing as council has been doing it for years.
“In terms of payment of such terminal benefits, the precedence has been set. The last time we separated with our Chamber Secretary, Mr Cephas Vuta, we paid him about US$48 000 in lieu of the pro rata share of his motor vehicle and therefore we should do the same thing with the late Town Clerk.
“There is nothing sinister about those figures as they are contained in his employment contract. Once something is a contractual obligation, it should be met,” he said.
“However, I don’t think seeking clarity from the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works would be ideal as the contract we have is between the City of Mutare and the late Mr Maligwa. The Constitution gives us the autonomy to exercise authority over our own jurisdiction. Yes, here and there we can consult the parent ministry, but certainly not on this issue,” he said.
Councillor Tandi also said in the past, council was failing to attract qualified managers due to poor remuneration. He said this why the local authority has been using residential and industrial stands to lure the right candidates.
“On the stands, at one time Mutare was not an attractive employer as our salaries were too low. We were not offering vehicles to our managers and therefore we needed to find other means to incentivise our managers. That is how we introduced the sale of stands at discounted rates to retain our workers. So we will avail those stands because it was a package we offered Mr Maligwa in order to incentivise him to stay on the job,” said Councillor Tandi.
He however said the issue needs to be thoroughly explained to the city fathers.
“I cannot say councillors are against the payment of the benefits. It is only that some are not comprehending the issue at hand. We are just playing an oversight role. These are public funds and we cannot just disburse them without getting enough information.
“The issue didn’t sail through because some councillors were sceptical. There were some grey areas and management is working on shedding more light on those. We hope everything will be clarified soon,” he said.
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