FACTIONALISM within the MDC-T is threatening to throw Gokwe Town Council into chaos amid disclosures that the local authority was on a spree to purge top officials reportedly suspected to be linked to other party officials, Zanu PF or the fired town secretary Tapiwa Marongwe.

REPORT BY EVERSON MUSHAVA CHIEF REPORTER

According to impeccable sources, the MDC-T councillors were reportedly heavily polarised and working with town planner and acting town secretary Clemence Madondo, a Zanu PF appointee, to purge those that were seen as “politically incorrect”.

It is understood that some councillors believed to be aligned to party secretary-general Tendai Biti lost their posts in the province, districts and wards to new incumbents reportedly linked to national organising secretary Nelson Chamisa. The new incumbents have vowed to replace some of the councillors at the next election hence the fierce fight over control of the local authority. Chamisa and Biti have repeatedly denied leading factions.

The sources said Madondo, who was reportedly seconded to the local authority by Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo after Marongwe was fired in February last year, had reportedly aligned himself with a powerful faction within council reportedly chaired by acting chair Vengesai Chipfuko — a reported Biti protégé.

As a result, Madondo had reportedly suspended council chief administration officer Alexander Nyandoro on trumped-up charges, and several other top officials had been lined up for suspension over their perceived “politically incorrectness”.

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Yesterday, Madondo refused to comment on Nyandoro’s suspension saying: “For now, we can’t comment because the matter is still in its infancy. You can wait for a month or two because we are dealing with human resources issues. We are not punishing anyone, but correcting things.”

On targeted suspensions of other top officials, Madondo said: “We haven’t suspended anyone yet. If they have papers to prove we have suspended them, they can give them to you.”

In Nyandoro’s suspension letter dated December 5, 2012, Madondo wrote: “You were involved in an act of dishonesty and for negligent performance of duty in terms of Section 140(1) (b) of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29.15).

“Sometimes last year (2011) you were involved in forgery of documents in the purchase of a Toyota D4D vehicle. You falsely drafted management minutes where you purported that a management meeting was held to discuss variation of the Toyota D4D price.”

Nyandoro is alleged to have made purchases and failed to submit receipts as well as having unprocedurally written to the provincial administrator (PA) castigating council on the procedures used to suspend Marongwe.

But in his defence through his lawyers, Chitere, Chidawanyika and Partners, Nyandoro denied all the charges, saying there was evidence a meeting over variation of the price of the Toyota was held.

He also claimed he filed the receipts with the finance clerk and it was not his responsibility to keep them.

Nyandoro also queried why the issue was being raised now after two consecutive audits failed to find an anomaly, while on the issue of the letter to the PA, Nyandoro said he did not consult Madondo because he was a mere engineer at the time while according to the Urban Councils Act he was the acting town secretary.

Despite Madondo claiming that he wanted to bring sanity in the town council, sources said he had lined other officials for elimination on trumped-up charges in an alleged bid to land the substantive post of town secretary.

Mid-last month, sources claimed a hearing was supposed to be held for finance director Jockoniah Nyoni as Madondo, with the support of MDC-T councillors, allegedly moved on to purge any individual seen as competition.

Repeated efforts to contact Chipfuko were fruitless as he was not picking up his mobile phone last night.