The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani, News Editor
UNDER-PRESSURE Mutare City Council Town Clerk, Mr Obert Muzawazi has resigned, The Manica Post can reveal.Although Mutare mayor, Councillor Tatenda Nhamarare could neither confirm nor deny Mr Muzawazi’s resignation, highly placed sources at the Civic Centre, which houses the council confirmed the resignation.
“Yes, it is true that Mr Muzawazi resigned today. The mayor met management this afternoon and briefed them on the development. Mr Muzawazi was under a lot of pressure from almost every front and he opted to save his integrity by throwing in the towel.
“There will be a special council meeting tomorrow where the mayor will appraise all the councillors on the latest development,” said the source.
Mr Muzawazi was appointed Town Clerk in 2007 and had previous stints with Rusape Town Council where he served as Town Secretary and Chinhoyi where he served as Town Clerk before coming back to Mutare where he was first appointed Chamber Secretary. Repeated efforts to get comment from Mr Muzawazi were fruitless as his mobile phone was not reachable.
Mr Muzawazi’s resignation follows demonstrations which rocked the city last Wednesday with residents protesting against findings of a recent Government audit which exposed rampant corruption and breakdown of service delivery at the municipality.
The special audit investigation on employment costs for the Mutare City Council was carried out as directed by the Secretary of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Engineer George Mlilo following reports that the council’s staff salaries had remained unpaid for more than 18 months. The audit investigation was conducted from December 10 to 19, 2015 and was focusing on the period from June 2014 to November 2015.
