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MDC-T councillors angry at being left out of meetings with Chombo

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HARARE MDC-T councillors are angry with mayor Bernard Manyenyeni for leaving them out in his meetings with Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo.

HARARE MDC-T councillors are angry with mayor Bernard Manyenyeni for leaving them out in his meetings with Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo. The opposition city fathers said they also wanted to be included in the meetings with the minister.

BY MOSES MATENGA

Manyenyeni has reportedly met Chombo on several occasions with a few selected councillors and town clerk Tendai Mahachi, a move that has led to some councillors complaining of being left out.

Councillors questioned why the mayor was meeting Chombo without all of them present.

But Manyenyeni defended himself insisting he had nothing to hide from the meetings as he often went with Mahachi and other selected councillors.

“This is not the first time to be invited to meetings that I have gone with other councillors,” Manyenyeni said.

Glen Norah councillor Herbert Gomba said it was “a shame” council would discuss non-issues for 30 minutes as he tried to end the debate with councillors demanding answers.

“We can’t spend 30 minutes saying why you went to the minister’s offices,” Gomba said.

Relations seem to have improved between Chombo and the new crop of councillors compared to their predecessors who wanted the minister arrested for alleged land theft.

The councillors in the last council reported Chombo to the police, a move that led to the arrest of then mayor Muchadeyi Masunda and eight councillors who had compiled the report.

A number of councillors were then fired by Chombo on trumped-up charges.

Yesterday Manyenyeni explained his meetings with Chombo saying he met the minister with six other councillors insisting there was nothing unusual with that.

“It was not just me. We were six councillors and about the same number of officials. Like l said, I can and usually do meet all types of people alone,” he said.