Harare mayor Jacob Mafume has suspended town clerk Hosiah Chisango from duty over a series of allegations of misconduct which include awarding a street lighting tender to a blacklisted company and renewing his contract indefinitely without authorisation.
The suspension took effect on Monday, September 30.
Chisango was arrested in July on allegations of illegally awarding a US$9,2 million street lights tender to controversial businessman Moses Mpofu who is currently locked up over another botched Presidential Goat Scheme.
He was granted US$500 bail on September 17 pending trial on criminal abuse of office charges.
In a letter gleaned by NewZimbabwe.com, Mafume cited multiple breaches of statutory regulations which could lead to financial losses for the council.
"Grounds for suspension, The employer has a good cause to believe that you have committed a serious misconduct in that you contravened Section 4(a) of the National Code i.e. S.I. 15 of 2006 otherwise known as 'Any act or conduct or omission inconsistent with the fulfilment of the express or implied conditions of his or her contract". You did so in one or more of the following ways;
"You misconducted yourself in the procurement and award of a tender for street lights to Jukula Enterprises in that you awarded the contract to a blacklisted company which had a record of breaching its tender obligations. Or that you awarded a tender to a company owned by proprietors of blacklisted companies thereby exposing Council to potential financial losses and which company in this case had not won the tender. In doing so you have failed one of your primary functions as the accounting officer which is to protect the council's interest," said Mafume.
In addition to the tender issues, the Town Clerk has been criticized for failing to secure effective Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for the management of the council's billing and accounting systems over five years.
"As the Accounting Officer you have failed to secure an effective Enterprise Resource Planning ("ERP") Software and System support for the management of the Council's billing and accounting systems for about 5 years. This has resulted in failure to carry out statutory audits, to obtain timeous budget approvals and also has led to adverse reports by the Auditor General, Moreso, you have generally mishandled the ("ERP") procurement and tender processes leading to several court challenges and attracted negative publicity thereby putting the name of the organisation into disrepute", added Mafume.
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Furthermore, adding to the controversy, the Town Clerk is accused of extending his contract indefinitely after its expiration in July 2023, without the required authorization.
"You effected changes to the council organogram and structure by appointing senior council officers to Grades 1, 2 and 3 without Council Authority and without the approval of the Local Governance Board in terms of Section 134(1) of the Urban Council's Act. In particular, you appointed a senior council official to Grade 1B without the requisite approvals. You also appointed more senior officials from Grade 4 to Grade 3 without the necessary approvals. In doing so you abused your authority and also undermined the authority of Council and the Local Government Board.
"At the expiry of your fixed term contract around July 2023, you proceeded to give yourself a contract without limit of time without the knowledge and authority of the council and without the approval of the Local Government Board in terms of Section 132(1) of the Urban Council's Act. In violation of the circular issued on the 26th of June 2014 paragraph 2.2 by the Ministry of Local Government and approved by Cabinet".
The suspension is with pay and other benefits.
"During the period of your suspension, you shall not be allowed to attend the workplace or carry out any duties unless directed to do so by the Mayor. You are requested not to interfere with Council staff and other witnesses in the matter," further reads the letter.
