By A Correspondent- Zanu PF Masvingo provincial youth leaders recently ejected Gutu District Development Coordinator (DDC, formerly known as DA) Mellody Jiri Mafukidze from a Gutu Rural District Council (RDC) full council meeting accusing her of committing various misdemeanours.
Munyoro was in company of party colleagues Mafio Baster, Bare Trust and Josphat Sarukore.
They accused her of ‘playing games’ in the district influencing councillors not to respect their local leaders including chiefs and Members of Parliament (MPs).
They also took the keys from her office and handed them over to Gutu Police Station saying the police should keep them safe until a new DDC could be found.
When contacted for comment, Munyoro said that they had several reports from different wards that Mafukidze was influencing councillors not to respect their local leaders.
“We decided to take this action because we have heard several reports that she is badly influencing our councillors and we do not know maybe she wants to recruit her own local leadership but that will not happen.
“We also heard that at her work place, she has monopolised power and does not allow other administration officers to perform their own duties. We wonder how such a scenario will help our district to develop. We are aware she is just new in this district and she does not know much about the district. In light of that, how will our district develop if she centralises all functions in her own hands,” Munyoro complained.
He warned that the youths did not want to use violence but were resolute in their demands for their concerns to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Munyoro said they reported the matter to the Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs Ezra Chadzamira who promised them that the Provincial District Coordinator (PDC) Fungai Mbetsa will deal with the matter.
When contacted for comment, Mafukidza chose to play hardball, saying she knew nothing of the incident.
“What are you talking about? As you may know, I am in my office right now and nothing of that sort ever happened. I don’t know about the issue you are talking about,” Mafukidze curtly responded before hanging up the call.
Some sources told TellZim News that the police were afraid of arresting the youth leaders although there were sufficient grounds to prefer criminal charges against them.
“Mafukidze is not as pliable as the previous DA whom they used to do all their political dirty work. The new DA knows her powers and responsibilities as provided for by her job description so they have become very frustrated by her. On many occasions, she has refused to be used to further their political agendas and has worked to restore the political neutrality of the office,” said the source.
Other sources said Munyoro and company were not alone in their games as they were only being used by bigger political names not happy with the DDC’s resoluteness.
Though no charge was laid against the Zanu PF youths, internal police communications show that the matter had shaken top police bosses and was due to be tabled before the next Joint Operations (JOC) district meeting.
-TellZim