The Sunday News
Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Correspondent
GWERU mayor Councillor Hamutendi Kombayi was left fuming during a full council meeting on Friday after the meeting resolved to strip him of some powers which some City Fathers felt were equivalent to those of an executive mayor.Sources who attended the full council meeting said the town clerk Mr Daniel Matawu, who was chairing the meeting, at one point had to calm Clr Kombayi after he stood up and shouted at some fellow councillors while accusing them of trying to stage a coup against him.
The sources said Clr Kombayi was infuriated after the full council resolved that he should, with immediate effect, stop signing for travel and subsistence allowances (T and S).
“To curb abuse of funds by council management, councillors had vested the powers to sign T and S allowances in him because this facility had been abused. The move was to try and minimise funds that the council has been gobbling mainly through the T and S allowances. This move somehow worked as it reduced the amount of money that was being pumped out through T and S from $65 000 last year to about $30 000 this year for a period between January and April,” said the source.
The source said Councillor Kombayi was, however, now using the privilege of signing the T and S to organise trips for only those councillors who voted him into the office while sidelining those perceived to have voted against him when the mayoral elections were held.
“It was then resolved in the full council meeting that those powers be returned to the city’s town clerk because the mayor was now using it to divide the City Fathers.
“The idea however did not go down well with the mayor who disrupted the meeting demanding an explanation as to why he was being stripped of the powers. The town clerk had to intervene for the meeting to adopt other resolutions after the mayor suddenly left his chair and started shouting at his fellow councillors.”
Clr Kombayi confirmed the council resolution when he was contacted.
He said the resolution to strip him of the powers to sign for T and S was done in contravention of some sections of the Urban Councils Act.
“There was no motion which was passed. Only one councillor raised it and the issue was immediately discussed without it being seconded. I feel a section of the Urban Councils Act was contravened here and the decision therefore was void,” he said.
Clr Kombayi took a swipe at some of his fellow councillors whom he accused of taking personal fights into the council.
“As the City Fathers, we should know that our mandate is to serve the people and deliver service. Unfortunately some of my colleagues do not know why they were elected into office, they are out to fight personal grudges taking personal fights into council,” he said.
Clr Kombayi said he would contest the decision to strip him of the signing powers which he said was done unprocedurally.
“We want to safeguard ratepayers’ money and this is why we were elected into office, we are not in council to fight personal grudges, what we want is to improve service delivery and safeguard residents’ money,” he said.
