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Letter
of suspension from Minister Chombo to Exec Mayor of Harare Mudzuri
Copy provided
by Combined Harare Residents' Association (CHRA)
April 29, 2003
Read
the statement from Combine Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
Your Honour,
The Executive Mayor of Harare City Council:
Engineer E. Mudzuri
P O Box 990
Harare
YOUR SUSPENSION
AS EXECUTIVE MAYOR OF HARARE CITY COUNCIL PENDING THE OUTCOME OF
INVESTIGATIONS INTO ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT
Desiring to
improve and maintain standards of municipal service delivery to
the residents of Harare and , the advancement of a smooth local
government system within the confines of the City, I hereby suspend
you from the office of Executive Mayor of the City of Harare in
terms of Section 54(2) of the Urban Councils Act (Cap. 29:15) as
read with the Local Authorities Election Laws Amendment Act No 21
of 1997.
The charges
laid against you encompass the following;
Mismanagement
of the City affairs leading to a decline in service delivery to
the residents and ratepayers of Harare. Specific charges in
this context include:
Your failure
to produce a strategic service delivery turn-around plan for the
City and your refusal to accept assistance from the parent Ministry
in the same regard;
Your arbitrary
suspension and dismissal of senior management staff resulting in
critical positions being without substantive occupants thereby causing
diminished capacity of the City to deliver on essential mandates;
Your arbitrary
suspension and dismissal of staff in other categories of Council
employ in the absence of an incisive human resources audit report
and contrary to the understanding between our two offices on March
21, 2002 to the effect that we would liase with each other on such
matters before implementation of any decisions;
Your withdrawal
of critical retention allowances to manpower in key positions within
the establishment of Council leading to an inducement of low staff
morale and inevitably reduced output;
Your abuse of
authority (when you became Executive Mayor) through manipulation
or subversion of the due course of Council disciplinary procedures
where your professional conduct (while still a Council employee)
was being tried before a court of law;
Your undue alteration
of standing Council tender procedures to benefit selected individuals/companies/organisations
(whichever may be applicable) of your choice;
Your intermittent
failure to ensure adequate supply of water to certain parts of the
City and, indeed, satellite towns from the month of September 2002
to date;
Your wilful
encouragement of illegal activities by Harare residents to engage
in uncontrolled activities with impunity through press adverts thereby
wantonly exposing the health of the same residents to harmful
pollution and indirect contravention of your mandate as a health
standard regulating authority; and;
Again, your
wilful encouragement of Harare City Council employees to abandon
work during the March 18 and 19, 2003 and the April 23 to 25, 2003
mass stay-aways contrary to your fundamental mandate to ensure sustained
service delivery to residents of Harare at all times.
I also charge
you of mismanagement of public finances as follows:
Your irresponsible
application of public financial and material resources in the production
and distribution of partisan documentation bent on creating ungovernable
situations in and around the City;
Your manipulation
of due Council procedures in matters relating to tendering or procurement
of services or equipment.
I am also charging
you of gross insubordination and wilful default on lawfully issued
instructions and directions from my office in terms of relevant
Sections of the Urban Councils Act [Cap. 29:15]
Specific instances
in this regard include the following:-
Your refusal
to co-operate with the parent Ministry in terms of producing a turn-around
strategic plan for the City;
Your refusal
to accept a committee of experts intended to assist your Council
in the formulation of the same strategic document ultimately intended
to enhance the City's delivery standards;
Your failure
or refusal to avail my office and discuss the contents and the output
of the human resources audit report on which, presumably your actions
on Council staff were based; and
Your suspension,
with immediate effect, shall be without any of the benefits entitled
to the office of Executive Mayor, and is intended to pave way for
investigations into your alleged acts of misconduct as Executive
Mayor of Harare City Council.
Dr I M Chombo
(MP)
Minister of Local Government,
Public Works and National Housing
Cc: His Excellency,
the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe
The Minister of special Affairs in the President's Office
The Minister of Home Affairs
The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
The Deputy Mayor of Harare City Council, Cllr S. Makwavarara
The Acting Town Clerk, Harare City Council
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