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Christopher Zvobgo

Herald Reporters
Harare City Council workers are bitter over the selection criteria used in the search for the new director of works, amid indications it was skewed in favour of civil and mechanical engineers at the expense of other disciplines in the department. Council flighted adverts in the media recently for the director of works to replace outgoing director Engineer Phillip Pfukwa.

“The Department of Works has several divisions under it, but it’s surprising that the requirement only focuses on two,” said an insider.

“There are planners, architects, surveyors and electrical engineers. We are concerned that the selection criteria was done with certain individuals in mind.”

Another insider said council had directors of works who were neither civil nor mechanical engineers, before raising eyebrows why they had narrowed the selection criteria this time around.

Some of such directors included Mr Psychology Chiwanga, who is a city planner by profession and Engineer Tongai Mahachi, the city’s first black director of works who is an electrical engineer.

A residents pressure group, Community Water Alliance, said in a statement that the position of the director of works required someone who was both a planner and an administrator.

“The alliance notes with concern the required qualifications paraded on the position of director of works by City of Harare officials. This is not an engineering position,” said the group.

“Engineers have messed up on this job not because they are incapable, but they were assigned responsibilities that are not theirs.

“The alliance respects engineers and knows the valuable contribution they make to water service delivery. They are good in their area of speciality.

“Several universities in Zimbabwe are producing Rural and Urban Planning graduates some who already have experience in planning. These are the right candidates for this job.”

Another source said the key result areas in the vacancy notice for the director of works advertised by City of Harare showed that civil construction was not a key element since most of the work was done by contractors and private developers.

“The main thrust of the job is management and regulation of the city’s environs,” said the source.

“The director of works is an executive position which entails management and regulation, not handling day to day activities which are handled by the various division heads who are professionals in their respective fields.”

The city’s human capital director Dr Cainos Chingombe said they had followed historical precedence in the selection as the structure of the department had been modelled along a leadership of incumbents with civil engineering such as Dr Christopher Zvobgo and Dr Tendai Mahachi.

Human Resources and General Purposes Committee chairperson, Clr Wellington Chikombo said: “Our advert is crystal clear on what we want.

“We are looking for a civil engineer not your references. Civil is the major component for our requirement as a city. We are spot on.”