KWEKWE — The wrangle over suspended Kwekwe City Council treasurer Albert Zingwe took a new twist on Monday after mayor Shadreck Tobaiwa vowed not to allow the embattled treasurer to resume duty as recently directed by Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo.
Tobaiwa told a special council meeting on Monday that Zingwe would not be coming back to work anytime soon.
Following consultations with the MDC-T provincial executive at the weekend, Tobaiwa convened a hastily organised special council meeting to deliberate on Chombo’s directive to reinstate Zingwe and re-assign acting treasurer, Morris Mutema, back to his office as internal audit manager.
Sources told NewsDay, Tobaiwa, his deputy Helena Nkosana and councillor Johannes Ngozo, resolved to face Chombo head-on over the issue. Councillor Weston Masiya told NewsDay yesterday Tobaiwa had already left for Harare to discuss the matter.
“The mayor has gone to meet the minister before he can re-instate Zingwe. However, Mutema is no longer acting treasurer. He has been pulled back to his position,” said Masiya.
Insiders said the meeting was heated, with the majority of councillors telling Tobaiwa to follow the directive and complain to Chombo later.
But the mayor reportedly refused to listen to acting town clerk Lucia Mkandla who warned the mayor of consequences of defying the minister.
Chombo’s deputy, Sesel Zvidzai, recently urged council to defy the directive, saying the order was unconstitutional.
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“Councils know how to deal with illegal instructions,” said Zvidzai.
