KWEKWE — MDC-T secretary for local government Sesil Zvidzai was allegedly snubbed by members of his party in Mbizo on Saturday who accused him of failing to censure errant and corrupt councillors reportedly aligned to him.
The alleged snub came at a time fissures continue to widen in the MDC-T led Kwekwe City Council over what some councillors say are dictatorial tendencies by mayor Shadreck Tobaiwa.
Sources close to the aborted meeting told NewsDay that Zvidzai was in Kwekwe to meet the Mbizo executive over a numbers of issues bordering on local governance, but was told off.
“We met Zvidzai in Mbizo at MP (Settlement) Chikwinya’s parliamentary constituency office at around 3pm, but the executive refused to be addressed by him because they felt he had failed to run local councils in a fair and just manner,” said one of the sources.
Zvidzai is, among other issues, accused of siding with beleaguered Mbizo councillor Johna Ngozo, who is facing criminal charges of allegedly duping desperate homeseekers of over $10 000 in a failed land deal.
“He is the reason why we have divisions in local councils because he has refused to take action on councillors who are aligned to him even if they act criminally and corruptly, that is why we refused to give him audience,” said another source.
Zvidzai, however, denied that he was snubbed, saying the meeting in Kwekwe was successful.
“I had brilliant meetings in Kwekwe. In fact, I am quite happy with the mandate that the party gave me to lead the process to improve the party of excellence,” said Zvidzai.
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Zvidzai denied protecting corrupt councillors saying the party had carried out an audit of its councils in line with the MDC-T national executive resolution.
The Kwekwe council resolved through resolution 18 to set up an investigation team to probe allegations of corruption against councillors from the party.
Councillors who would be found to be corrupt are set to be fired from their positions and from the party, according to the resolution.
“That report will deal with all the issues that have been raised around councilors. It (the report) is almost complete and will be made public,” Zvidzai said.
