‘Nyoni had interests of people at heart’

Auxilia Katongomara Chronicle Reporter
THE late Bulawayo town clerk Middleton Nyoni has been described as a principled man who had the interests of the people at heart. Speaking at his funeral service in the city yesterday, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Engineer George Mlilo, said Nyoni was the only town clerk in the country with a reasonable salary.

While some town clerks were earning as much as $27,000, Nyoni’s salary was way below even some of his peers from smaller towns. “When I was appointed secretary in the ministry, one of my biggest tasks was to address the obscene salaries that some councils were awarding themselves at the expense of service delivery. Some town clerks earned about $27,000 and we had a mammoth task of reducing that to about $10,000 but Nyoni’s was at $9,000 which was one of the lowest as compared to other clerks from small towns such as Gwanda , Kwekwe and Plumtree who were taking home $8,000,” said Mlilo.

“It’s only in Bulawayo where we did not have a salary cut because of the realistic figure”. He said Bulawayo was one of the best run local authorities under Nyoni’s leadership. “Last year, the local authorities were assessed and Bulawayo came out tops. We have even introduced a system of 30:70 salary to service delivery ratio and Bulawayo is doing well. It is now possible to increase allowances for the councillors because Bulawayo this year recorded a 76 percent revenue collection and I would like to urge councillors to encourage residents to pay bills,” said Eng Mlilo.

He said the memorial service was a celebration of Nyoni’s life. All the speakers spoke highly of Nyoni describing him as an astute leader who remained focused on bringing development to the City of Kings and Queens. The city’s housing and community services director, Isaiah Magagula, said Nyoni was a workaholic who was dedicated to duty. “Middleton is one of the leaders who taught us that we can run this city without any money. He was a leader who worked very hard to achieve his objectives.

“He was a workaholic who would often leave his office very late at night and was hands-on on everything,” said Magagula.

Bulawayo Residents Association (BURA) chairman Winos Dube said Nyoni had a deep love for the city of Bulawayo. “There are seven characteristics that Nyoni possessed: he was a true servant of the people, a real servant, upright servant , stable servant , very tangible servant, energetic servant and very dependable servant of the people of Bulawayo,” said Dube.

Other speakers included representatives of the Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association (BUPRA), Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), Nomads Golf Association and the Town Clerks Forum.

There was comic relief at the memorial service when a workers’ committee chairperson mistakenly referred to the mayor as Thaba Moyo — the former mayor and had to be correct amid public mirth. The present mayor is Councillor Martin Moyo. Scores of residents, captains of industry, former councillors, mayors and council officials from other towns attended the service.

Nyoni died on Sunday and will be buried at Lady Stanley cemetery this morning.