The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Municipal Reporter
A RECENT move to single out Bulawayo City Council’s director of engineering services, Engineer Simela Dube for the decaying service delivery standards in the city took a dramatic turn when councillors shifted the blame to finance director, Mr Kimptom Ndimande.
Last month councillors, reacting to the public outcry on the state of service delivery, ordered the city’s Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube to submit a report on the performance of the engineering services department, to be tabled at a special sitting of council’s general purposes committee. The councillors reportedly had no kind words for Eng Dube whom they accused of shepherding the decay in service delivery.
Councillors instructed the Town Clerk to submit the report where among other issues he was expected to evaluate Eng Dube’s performance and the overall functioning of the department. However, impeccable sources have revealed that there was a dramatic twist recently during the general purposes meeting when councillors who were said to have architected the move against Eng Dube had an about turn and instead targeted Mr Ndimande as behind the deteriorating service delivery standards.
Mayor Councillor Solomon Mguni confirmed that they had received the report from Mr Dube but claimed that they were “satisfied with the report and the department’s work plan and what it has achieved so far.” Clr Mguni said they were now going to report their findings and recommendations as a human resources committee to full council for final determination of the issue.
“The major challenge faced by the department was mainly centred on funding. The committee observed that most requisitions by the department had not been paid and or financed. It was therefore difficult for the committee to impute failure, negligence or dereliction of duty to one department. Members were generally agreed that the department needed to be recapitalised and retooled for effective service delivery. The human capital is there; which has done so well under difficult circumstances. All we need is to take collective responsibility; council and residents to financially assist the department to perform to expectations,” he said.
Clr Mguni said it was their hope that with the improved budget performance and injection of Devolution funds by Government; council will start emergency road rehabilitation programmes knowing that the city now has a reliable water supply and distribution.
Councillors who were part of the meeting however, revealed that there were reports that a “truce” had been declared before the actual meeting where it had been agreed not to go ahead with the planned disciplinary measures against Eng Dube.
“It was not surprising at all that during the meeting, a different tune was now being sung, with Mr Ndimande being singled out for blame on the issue,” said a councillor who attended the meeting.
The General Purposes Committee is made up of Clr Mguni, Clr Ncube, Alderman Siboniso Khumalo (chairperson of the Environmental Management and Engineering Services Standing Committee), Clr Sinikiwe Mutanda (Health, Housing and Education Committee chairperson), Clr Tawanda Ruzive (Finance and Development Committee chairperson), Clr Sikhululekile Moyo (Future Water and Action committee chairperson) and Clr Pilate Moyo (town lands and planning committee chairperson).
