By A Correspondent- Residents Association of Victoria Falls on Tuesday frogmarched Town Clerk, Ronnie Dube, out of his office after he was suspended for alleged abuse of office.
The association mobilised residents to physically remove Dube from his Council office following his suspension by the Mayor.
“Today, we stormed Council premises and locked Ronnie Dube’s office and put a key blocker.
“Dube is under investigation by ZACC for corruption and illegal Council deals.
“After we left, some Council security personnel tried to remove the key blocker, but failed.
“It seems Ronnie wants to hide all evidence, but the police have warned that any security guard who removes the key blocker will be arrested,” said a source.
In the suspension letter, Dube is accused of five counts of alleged incompetence.
“On May 26, you wrote a letter to Jackberry Investment instructing them to make a payment towards one-month rentals into City Council Account number 4572-033912-202 held at ZB Bank to the tune of ZW$8 251 522.65.
“There is no Council resolution to allocate the brewery to the said investor.
“The purported lease being drawn in the same letter is illegal. You acted ultra vires your express and/or implied terms and conditions of service.
On February 25, you unilaterally allocated the Council dumpsite to Greenline Africa, in partnership with Mosi oa Tunya Waste and Landfill (Pvt) Ltd without a Council resolution.
“In your letter dated February 25, you stated that management had no authority to lease out the said dumpsite/landfill site or sewerage pond area.
“You acted outside the scope of your mandate and powers by usurping Council powers.”
Added the letter:
On August 4, as the Town Clerk of the City of Victoria Falls, you caused the transfer of US$84 000 from a Council account.
“There was no cause for this transfer.
“Council neither authorised such nor does it have an agreement with you authorising the transfer of the said money.
“This is theft of trust property.
“In June, 2022, you misrepresented to Council a proposal arising from the tender to sell stand number 8300. The purpose of selling land, through the tender system is to get the competitive maximum value available on the open market.
You misled Council to award the tender to Zambezi Properties, whose bid of US$4.2 million was lower than the highest bid of US$5.7 million.
“You failed to discharge your duties diligently and effectively in line with the express or implied conditions of your contract of employment.
“In your capacity as Town Clerk, you have failed to solve perennial service delivery challenges, namely water shortages.”