GWERU – Government has ordered Gweru City Council to suspend interviews for the selection of a substantive Town Clerk for failure to follow proper recruitment procedures.
A letter seen by The Mirror dated February 12, 2024, written by Gweru District Development Coordinator (DDC) Tarisai Mudadigwa confirms the position.
The letter is addressed and copied to the Acting Town Clerk, Livingston Churu, Acting Director Local Government Services in the Midlands Province and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
“Apparently the office has observed several anomalies on your advert. The office strongly feels that the whole advertisement process should be re-done. See attached copy of a circular on recruitment and selection functions within Urban Councils for your perusal and guidance. The office remains available for further guidance on policy,’’ reads part of the letter.
Gweru Mayor, Martin Chivhoko downplayed the matter during his State of the City address at Town House yesterday. He said the City is indefinitely postponing interviews as the acting Town Clerk and one of the 24 candidates who had applied for the post, Livingstone Churu is surpassing expectations.
‘’We have suspended the process of holding interviews for the town clerk post. We are going to recruit the town clerk some other time. At the moment everything is moving smoothly with our acting town clerk,’’ he said.
Eight candidates were shortlisted for interviews. The local authority is hunting for a substantive Town Clerk to replace Elizabeth Gwatipedza who was dismissed for incompetence and abuse of office in 2019.
She was replaced by the then Chamber Secretary, Vakai Chikwekwe who resigned from the local authority last year after he was suspended following his arrest by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) for criminal abuse of office.
Churu who was the Finance Director took the post on an acting basis. – Masvingo Mirror
