Tuesday 31 October 2017

TYSON REJECTS MASHAKADA, MAYOR HITS BACK

Harare mayor Bernard Manyenyeni is headed for another showdown with Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere after he wrote to the Local Government Board (LGB) protesting against the minister’s decision to block the appointment of Hatfield MDC legislator Tapiwa Mashakada to the position of town clerk.

Kasukuwere has said Mashakada was unacceptable as town clerk ostensibly because he was “a career politician” despite the fact that he came out tops in interviews for the town clerk job, scoring 1 534 points ahead of City of Harare’s human capital director Cainos Chingombe who got 1 394 points and Gweru town clerk Elizabeth Gwatipedza who garnered 1 228 points.

Manyenyeni has written a strong-worded letter to the chairperson of the LGB, urging it to ignore Kasukuwere’s moves.

“I wish to register my disquiet over pre-emptive remarks by your appointing authority, the minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing... Kasukuwere which seek to disqualify the leading aspirant for the post of town clerk of Harare. It is my submission that your board has been subjected to undue political pressure to eliminate the top applicant from the post,” reads Manyenyeni’s letter.

“I have studied the interview file and as leader of council, I am satisfied that the panel has found a competent individual for the long-delayed turnaround of Harare. We have a duty to evaluate and react to the impact of the political pressures induced yet again into the final stages of the recruitment process.

“My council looks forward to restoring the fortunes of the City of Harare under the leadership of the candidate who has merited the position without any political discount,” Manyenyeni said.

The mayor confirmed the bonafides of the letter in an interview yesterday.
“I wrote the letter because the minister’s remarks are aimed at eliminating the candidate, who has merited the job,” he said.

Kasukuwere levelled the same accusations against Manyenyeni.
“I didn’t see the letter but the mayor has this tendency to just speak. He submitted the list (of the top three applicants) to the LGB and it’s doing its job, he should not try to cajole it.

“We know what game he is playing but we remain quiet. He must just allow the board to do its job,” Kasukuwere said yesterday.

This will become the third time Manyenyeni has clashed with Kasukuwere, after the two went toe-to-toe over the controversial appointment of former town clerk, James Mushore, who was shown the door well before he started work after Kasukuwere vetoed the appointment, arguing that it was done outside legal parameters.




 Late last year, Kasukuwere also overturned the decision by Manyenyeni to suspend the current acting town clerk Josephine Ncube and Chingombe, for allegedly defying a Cabinet directive to slash their salaries. Daily News

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