The decision by Harare city fathers to fire suspended town clerk, Tendai Mahachi, on three months’ notice without benefits must be applauded given the city’s poor financial state.
Mahachi was in July this year sent on forced leave by mayor Bernard Manyenyeni for standing in the way of the city’s succession plan and refusing to implement council resolutions to rationalise executives’ hefty salaries.
But the suspended town clerk recently brew a shocker when he made ridiculous demands of a hefty package estimated to be over $3 million, including $100 000 for every year served, a new Jeep Cherokee Overland, and a council house in an affluent Harare neighborhood.
But the question many Harare residents and ratepayers are asking is: What has this man done to deserve such a golden handshake?
This is a man who has presided over the collapse of service delivery in the once sunshine city.
Indeed, Mahachi deserves to go home empty-handed just as the city fathers are proposing as he has cost the city millions of dollars either due to his inaction or unwise decisions.
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Under Mahachi’s watch, running water became a luxury for most residents who have had to go for months with dry taps.
Uncollected garbage continues to pile, raising fears of a resurgence of a cholera outbreak reminiscent of the 2008-9 era where the disease killed over 4 500 people.
A $144 million Chinese loan for the improvement of Harare’s water supplies was allegedly abused, with executives buying themselves expensive vehicles at the expense of the project.
Navigating the roads of Harare with a vehicle is now a nightmare due to potholes.
Motorists are now losing their hard-earned cash in repairs due to the bad roads in Harare and yet the council still expects them to religiously pay for “services rendered”.
Harare workers have gone for months without salaries, yet Mahachi and his top brass at Town House continue to pay themselves hefty salaries of up to $37 000 per month each.
It was under Mahachi’s watch that kombis and vendors became a menace in the city. Mahachi had abdicated council responsibilities to Zanu PF militias who now control kombis, markets and vendors in the city, resulting in the current chaos.
The recommendation to fire Mahachi was made by the human resources committee and it now awaits ratification by a full council meeting next Thursday.
We are hopeful that sanity will prevail and that councillors will see reason and finally fire Mahachi to avoid further losses.
We are aware that for the past eight years, Mahachi received political protection and each time council proposed disciplinary action against him, former Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo would just spring to his defence.
We pray that Chombo’s successor, Saviour Kasukuwere, will not fall into the same trap and allow Mahachi to run council coffers dry through his hefty terminal benefits demands.
If Mahachi’s unreasonable demands are met, this will sound a death knell on the city already struggling to provide essential services largely due to mismanagement and corruption.
The $3 million that Mahachi is demanding can instead be used to improve water infrastructure and repair damaged roads as well as buy drugs and other essential equipment at council clinics. We believe Mahachi must go empty-handed.