Bulawayo mayor Solomon Mguni has reversed the suspension of Town Clerk Christopher Dube, a day after he was chucked out of office by a faction of councillors led by Deputy Mayor Tinashe Kambarami, intensifying the tribal tensions among the councillors.
Dube was issued with the suspension letter on Thursday with a list of accusations ranging from corruption, abuse of office and dereliction of duty.
Councillor Kambarami took advantage of the mayor`s absence – who is on study leave – to suspend the Town Clerk but the move has since backfired with the mayor reversing the decision.
The Chamber Secretary Sikhangele Zhou wrote to councillors advising them that Mayor Mguni had called off a special council meeting set for Friday, to formally suspend Dube.
“I am in possession of your letter dated 11th July 2019 in which you suspended the Town Clerk, purportedly in terms of Section 139(9)(3) of the Urban Council`s Act (Chapter 29, 15).
“In order not destabilise Council business I hereby lift the said suspension with immediate effect. I further direct the Town Clerk to furnish me with a comprehensive report on the allegations you have raised in your letter. The said report must reach my office within seven days of receipt of this letter,” read the letter.
According to the letter the “Town Clerk must report for duty with full salary and benefits.”
Clr Kambarami had earlier accused Dube of mismanaging the ward retention fund and misled the council on the amount available in the account.
” According to council minutes submitted by July 3 2019, the ward retention fund is supposed to have $4 444 909 but as of July 10 the actual balance is less than, $10 000. There are allegations you paid some contractors without the approval of the council and yet to date no work has been done resulting in the council losing money,” read the letter.
He also accused the Town Clerk of failing to deal with the water crisis in the city as well as violating council procedures after he was the licence to mine gold at the council-owned Good Hope/Aisleby Farms in 2017.
