HARARE mayor Muchadeyi Masunda has warned dismissed MDC-T councillors against fighting their party, saying doing so was tantamount to “fighting a juggernaut”.
Report by Moses Matenga, Staff Reporter
Juggernaut is an expression used for an unstoppable force.
Speaking for the first time since the MDC-T sacked Harare deputy mayor Emmanuel Chiroto and 12 other councillors for alleged corruption last month, Masunda said he was yet to receive a report from the party.
“Those people must be making peace with their party. You can’t fight a juggernaut. The mainstream MDC is like a juggernaut, you can’t fight MDC, it’s a political juggernaut,” Masunda said.
He, however, said Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo had the final say on the matter.
“They (MDC-T) haven’t given me the report yet. I met their secretary for local government Sessel Zvidzai and he promised to give me the report. As minister, Chombo is responsible for the administration of the Urban Councils Act. He has the obligation to investigate the alleged misdemeanours on all the councillors, especially those who were expelled,” he said.
Masunda gave the Chitungwiza example as an indication of Chombo’s powers in administering the Act and advised the MDC-T to give him time to engage in his own investigations.
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“If he (Chombo) thinks there is no case, they remain councillors,” Masunda said.
Masunda’s warning comes at a time the fired councillors, including Chiroto, have gone on a barrage accusing senior members of the MDC-T of masterminding their ouster.
Chiroto said he would refuse to be thrown out of Town House “like a pair of socks”.
Meanwhile, Chombo yesterday said the team he set up to investigate the alleged corruption at Town House was yet to complete its investigations. He said he would today add more accountants and lawyers into the probe team.
The probe is likely to see more heads rolling as Chombo has threatened to fire more than 30 councillors.
“It’s too early for them to have completed investigations, but we are in fact increasing the numbers. We are adding more lawyers and accountants and we expect results by early November,” Chombo said yesterday.
