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John Manzongo At the Workplace
Is Harare Town Clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi such a special person who can be defended even when he fails to perform according to expectations, and when public opinion is firmly against him? From what we have heard, he has acted in direct violation of his job description or agreed expectations, but lo and behold, when he is suspended there is a person who can reverse his suspension the next day!

This happened last week when Dr Mahachi was suspended by Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni but before the echo had died down, Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo jumped to his rescue, leaving ratepayers wondering what Chombo saw in Mahachi that they could not.

Dr Mahachi was suspended for three months after he refused to disclose the salary and benefits schedule for council senior employees in line with a December 17, 2013 council resolution.

The suspension was in terms of Section 139, Subsection 3 of the Urban Councils Act, which states: “If it appears to the mayor or chairman, as the case may be, that the town clerk of the council has been guilty of such conduct that it is desirable that the town clerk should not be permitted to carry on his work, he –

(a) may suspend the town clerk from office and require him forthwith to leave his place of work; and
(b) shall forthwith notify the council or, in the case of a municipality, executive committee, in writing, of such suspension and cause the suspension to be reported to the council at the first opportunity.”

The suspension, Mayor Manyenyeni said, was to facilitate investigations into Dr Mahachi’s conduct and the affairs and finances of the city.
Minister Chombo then intervened and said the suspension was a nullity, arguing that it bordered on personal vendettas “which should not scuttle council business in any way”.

With all due respect Minister, the worker (town clerk) at the centre of the controversy, Dr Tendai Mahachi, is a functional and critical worker of the City of Harare but if he violated council regulations or defied authority as defined in the code of conduct especially on matters that concern the whole city and ratepayers who sustain the council, let him be cleared through the proper channels.

If Dr Mahachi is a professional worker who when absent the city business will stop running then why did he fail to perform a simple instruction from the ratepayers who are his paymasters?

The whole nation wonders what makes him such a special worker who cannot be investigated even when President Mugabe has publicly denounced corruption.

Is the honourable minister now going against that stance? If there is nothing wrong in Dr Mahachi’s conduct then why not let due process take its course and he will be exonerated of any wrongdoing?

If really it is based on personal vendettas, why is there no proof to show that the “special worker” is a victim of personal grudge.
What the nation knows for now is that Dr Mahachi failed to do his duty and his superior, who happens to be the mayor of the city, has a right to suspend him. Let’s walk the talk, Honourable Minister.

You cannot just silence people’s voices just like that, it is not fair.
The majority of workers at Town House have gone for many months without pay just because the “special workers” must remain in their comfort zones and any disturbance to them warrants a ministerial intervention. Who will defend those workers who do not have ministers?

In my opinion, Dr Mahachi must remain suspended while investigations are carried out.
If he has committed no offence, he will return to his post and shame those who have a personal vendetta against him.

The workers who have gone without pay while only a few are gobbling a huge chunk of the city’s budget through astronomical salaries surely cannot call that a personal vendetta.

Ratepayers are the ones who elected the council representatives and unless the minister is now saying the City of Harare is treated like a monarch where decrees become law then I rest my case. But so long as the City of Harare follows laid down regulations then something seems to be amiss here.

Dr Mahachi was suspended by Mayor Manyenyeni for refusing to release the city’s salary schedule amid reports that 18 city bosses were gobbling over US$500 000 in salaries every month at a time service delivery has plummeted to dismal levels.

To me this is a matter of incompetence. A worker has failed to perform his duty and his superior has seen it fit to institute an investigation. This is purely a labour issue between a superior and a junior.

Roads in most suburbs are no longer navigable because of potholes and the ratepayers are seriously asking for answers. A move is made to restore sanity is initiated and then someone reverses it.

Corruption needs a collective national effort regardless of which political party one belongs to. Those suspected of corruption must be investigated and cleared through proper channels, not ministerial interventions.

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