…anxiety as Chamisa councillors sworn in
CITIZENS’ Coalition for Change (CCC) councillors say they will immediately swing into action and stop all dubious deals linked to First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa and some scandalous agreements involving Local Government minister July Moyo (pictured).
MOSES MATENGA/RUVIMBO MUCHENJE
But their threats may come to naught if Moyo strikes first by suspending councillors who are facing criminal abuse of office charges as threatened last week by government officials who spoke to The NewsHawks as the minister is said to be stopping at nothing to block all attempts to threaten his multi-million ventures endorsed by the MDC-T councillors.
This also came as CCC councillors were this Friday expected to elect a new acting mayor to take over from MDC-T’s Stewart Mutizwa who has been acting in the absence of suspended Herbert Gomba and Jacob Mafume.
Full council has not convened in the recent past after failing to constitute a quorum, meaning most of the “dubious” deals were yet to be endorsed.
Councillors told The NewsHawks that their immediate task will be to look into the deals that have raised eyebrows, including the US$400 million Pomona Waste Management agreement. The continuous use of resources to fund Auxillia’s programmes will also be reconsidered.
“We will look into all deals they entered into and we know most of them are dubious. We can’t say more now before we settle and our way of settling is the motion we moved to elect a new mayor on Friday,” one of the councillors said.
Twenty-two out of the 23 CCC councillors were sworn in on Thursday with Pedzai Sakupwanya, a gold dealer and Zanu PF official, was also sworn in.
Gomba was the only recently elected CCC councillor who was not sworn in and will take the oath at a given time.
In the absence of Chamisa’s councillors who were at the time recalled, councillors loyal to MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora endorsed a resolution of the education, health and housing committee of 29 July 2021 that paved the way for partnerships between the First Lady and council in her project that include (i) Nhanga/Gota/Ixhiba and Nharirire Yemusha.
Council then approved, albeit in retrospect, the participation of council officials and further authorised participation in the forthcoming programmes being organised by the office of the First Lady in what observers said was to get favours from the Zanu PF government via PresidentEmmerson Mnangagwa’s wife.
It also emerged that urban local authorities across the country were recently forced to contribute $32 million towards the construction of the first lady’s orphanage in Chiredzi.
The new Chambuta Children’s Home was constructed through her Angels of Hope Foundation, with councils contributing.
On the multi-million Pomona deal that council signed under Moyo’s close watch, Chamisa’s councillors vowed to scrutinise the deal with a view to blocking it as it was arrived at without following tender processes.
The deal was entered into between council and a German company, Geogenix BV, linked to a close ally of the first family, Delish Nguwaya, who is said to be its local representative, and is set generate up to 22 megawatts of electricity under the deal frowned upon by some councillors.
Unsure who would be in charge of Town House post the 26 March by-elections, council was forced to enter into a an agreement with a clause not to change anything in the event of political changes and it remains to be seen how Chamisa’s councillors will stop the deal.
Titled “Concession agreement to design, build and operate the Harare Pomona waste management facility and waste energy power plant”, the deal signed in the presence of Moyo and Nguwaya has come under scrutiny amid fears the residents will be burdened with paying back the money that Mnangagwa loyalists are looking to benefit from.
There was drama during the swearing-in ceremony, snubbed by Mwonzora councillors, when Mutizwa was booed by CCC supporters who accused him of occupying the chair illegally.
Mutizwa remained calm despite the hostilities and left immediately after the swearing-in without mingling with his CCC counterparts.
Sakupwanya, a strong Mnangagwa ally who won a council seat he described as historic in the last polls, was also not spared the booing by CCC supporters who swarmed Town House for the event. Councillor Kudzai Kadzombe is set to take over as acting mayor after the elections, but is facing competition from Enock Mupamaonde.
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