Zvidzai in fierce fight with Chombo

is in the offing following a fallout between Minister Ignatius Chombo and his deputy Sessel Zvidzai over the management of Bindura Municipality.
Deputy Minister Zvidzai on April 20 wrote to suspended Bindura Mayor Tinashe Madamombe instructing him to ignore Minister Chombo’s suspension and report for duty.
“I observe that you were recently found not guilty on allegations of impropriety that were levelled against you by the ministry and by the Magistrate’s Court in Bindura.
“It is also important to observe that the suspension itself was improper in that it was done without consulting the Deputy Minister.
“This is in total contravention of the provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and so was null and void.
“I therefore write in terms of Section 20:1.6 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe to lift your suspension with immediate effect.
“You therefore revert to your position of Mayor of Bindura with full benefits,” said Deputy Minister Zvidzai in his letter to Clr Madamombe.
But the Ministry’s permanent secretary Mr Killian Mpingo wrote to Mashonaland Central provincial administrator Mr Josphat Jaji, reinforced Minister Chombo’s suspension of Clr Madamombe.
“Please be advised that the Mayor of Bindura Clr T M Madamombe was suspended on 25 February 2011 by the Minister in terms of the Section 114(1) (c), and (d) (1) (111) of the Urban Councils Act . . . as amended.
“You may be aware that in terms of section 312 of the said Act there is a board of inquiry on the matter, so as to afford Clr Madamombe an opportunity to be heard.
“Thus the suspension of Clr TM Madamombe remains effective,” he said.
Minister Chombo said it was important that for now his deputy acknowledges that such powers are only vested in the minister.
He said it was unfortunate that his deputy had chosen to ignore protocol in the ministry and decided to act as a full Cabinet minister.
“If I were him I would confront the minister and get into the loop of things. To reverse my decisions was a bit on the silly side.
“You do not bring party disagreements to Government. MDC factions should remain at Harvest House.
“The same thing applies to Zanu-PF. We cannot fire people from Government simply because they have defied their party political leaders,” he said.
Harare Residents Trust described the sudden interest in the administration of local authorities by Mr Zvidzai as “suspicious as he has tended to ignore residents’ pleas for democratic, transparent and accountable governance at Town House”
“Our position as the HRT is that the Urban Councils’ Act (Chapter 29:15) is archaic and needs to be overhauled in order to promote the participation of citizens in the administration and running of local authorities.
“Without reforming this piece of legislation, the deputy minister will continue to shoot in the dark, without a guideline on what role he plays in that ministry. His role is symbolic and of no meaning to the residents as he is not even recognised in the principal Act governing local urban authorities.
“The Act gives exclusive executive powers to the minister to give directives and instructions to the local authorities, without any provision for the local authorities to seek legal or political recourse where he has issued illegal and unjustified directives.
“In this ensuing conflict, the deputy minister lacks legislative backup to support his attempts to re-appoint the dismissed councillors,” said HRT co-ordinator Mr Precious Shumba.
Mr Shumba said by dismissing the councillors, whether justified or not, Minister Chombo is using the Urban Councils Act, which empowers him to do so.
Mr Shumba questioned why Deputy Minister Zvidzai had taken keen interest on Bindura and Harare’s two fired councillors Warship Dumba and Casper Takura yet there are over 20 councillors from the MDC-T who have been dismissed by Minister Chombo.
“Deputy Minister Zvidzai’s motive has to be examined before a clear position is made.
“He should stop politicising civic matters that have everything to do with the legislation than to do with the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that we expect him to know better,” said Mr Shumba.