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Daniel Nemukuyu Investigations Editor
Results of the interviews for the selection of 290 new Harare municipal police and security officers have been held pending validation of the recruiting process by the audit and investigating teams after an outcry over alleged nepotism and corruption.
Harare City Council recently advertised for 290 vacancies in the security department and there was an overwhelming response.
Close to 4 000 people applied for the jobs, creating an opportunity for the corrupt to make money since only 290 were to be hired, just 7,25 percent.
Corruption and nepotism allegations were raised with reports that an unmarked Toyota Wish was seen whisking some candidates who had failed the 5km road run into the City Sports Centre to join the successful candidates.
It also came out that some applicants paid between US$100 and US$500 to corrupt council officials and that even the list of words for the spelling test was widely circulated.
The list of 20 spellings that constituted another phase of the selection process leaked and was all over social media before the test, irritating those who had already paid for the list. Lucky relatives of council officers did not have to pay cash or search social media: they were just given the list so they could pass the test. A new test was now been drawn up.
Harare City Council’s acting human resources director Mr Bozman Matengarufu said new employees can only be called to work after validation of the whole interview process by the audit.
“We have heard of the allegations and to ensure professionalism and fairness, a detailed report by a special taskforce will be subjected to validation by the audit.
“We can only recruit after the validation exercise. Once the taskforce reports to me, I will subject that report to validation before I read it out to council.
“For now, I am waiting for the report. The taskforce comprises officers from the human resources department, Harare Traffic and the municipal police,” said Mr Matengarufu.
Sources said the municipal police has commenced investigations into allegations raised and halted the recruitment.
In the fitness run, applicants had to run a 5km loop from the City Sports Centre. If they made it within the stipulated 22 minutes, they were found to be fit and were allowed into the yard while those who failed the test were shut out.
In a disturbing development, The Herald witnessed a white Toyota Wish smuggling into the City Sports Centre a man and two women who had been shut out after failing the road run.
The vehicle had no number plates and it was allowed into the City Sports Centre while ferrying the trio. As part of its investigations, The Herald accessed a list of spellings that was leaked on social media platforms before the interviews. Word reached the human resources bosses that the list was now in the public domain and the pass rate was unbelievably high, with most getting all 20 words right and even the bad spellers hitting 80 percent.
The list that leaked had the following 20 words: Embezzlement, perjury, absenteeism, supersede, lieutenant, anonymous, counterfeit, statutes, phenomenon, conscience, subpoena, modus operandi, superintendent, pronunciation, liaison, curator, occurrence, armoury, manoeuvre and bureaucracy.
This was being fixed thought. A team headed by the human resources manager Mr Kaponda and a Mrs Mukombedzi rushed to the interview venue with a new set of words. When they arrived a number of candidates had already been tested and they were asked to start afresh with another list of words.
An advertisement for the vacancies specified that the applicant must be 18 to 35 years of age, have five O Level passes and be physically fit.
There was an overwhelming response of almost 4 000 applicants and the process started with the verification of certificates and age vetting. About 1 000 candidates failed and the successful ones were invited for the written spellings’ test. After the spellings test, the successful candidates were short-listed for the oral test, which became the final stage.
A male officer in the human resources department (name withheld) was reportedly collecting bribes of between US$100 and US$500 from those who wanted an automatic pass in the final phase of the selection process. Corruption and nepotism is not new to Harare City Council’s municipal police recruitment.
Harare City Council in February 2019 was caught in a nepotism storm when councillors and top management were reportedly sending their relatives for jobs in various departments, leaving a trail of similar names in the municipality’s employment books.
A good number of the top managers, councillors and other opposition politicians share surnames with at least two recruits while in some cases up to eight recruits shared the same surname.
The recruitment sparked outrage with some breathing fire over the involvement of councillors in the recruitment process.
According to a document by concerned stakeholders titled, “City of Harare Report on Current State of Affairs, January 2018 to June 2019”, councillors were heavily involved in the recruitment.
Two employees who share the same surname with former Harare Mayor Mr Herbert Gomba — Tecla and Thomas — were recruited as municipal police officers.
Four others — Blessing, James, Tinashe and Rosemary — share the same surname with council’s former human capital director, Major Maxwell Marara. The quartet was employed in the municipal police section.
Although the link of the Jena family in council was not immediately established, people sharing that name were recruited at once with three in the fire section, three in the parking section and two in the municipal police section.
Councillor Wellington Chikombo of Ward 28 shares the surname with four recruits: Simon, Evans, Kilven and Sternford.
Two were recruited as parking supervisors while two were employed as patrol officers. Four municipal officers from the Taruvinga family — Laureta, Clever, Costain and Victoria — were also recruited early this year.
The Muzuva family was represented by Julia and Denver, who were employed as patrol officers and firefighter.
The Mukunguma, Mandere and Nyatsuro families had two representatives each on the list of the new recruits.
Five of the recruits who share the Moyo surname — Farai, Conrad, Golden, Mduduzi and Sinothando — were recruited in the fire and municipal police sections, although admittedly this surname is so common that at least some of the five might well bear no relationship with the Moyo in the council service.
Online Reporter