Unelected July Moyo firing elected councillors

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Who elected you, Chamisa asks July Moyo

LOCAL Government minister July Moyo’s interference in the governance of local authorities has infuriated Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa who has called the Zanu-PF politburo member to order, describing him as the greatest threat to service delivery in the country.

This comes as Zanu-PF plots to centre its 2023 election campaign on promises of service delivery while castigating the opposition for alleged failure to deliver.

Moyo (pictured) has consistently frustrated the CCC’s efforts to run local authorities. The Zanu-PF minister is deliberately positioning MDC-T councillors to take charge amid suspicions he is shielding murky deals with the acquiescence of compromised Douglas Mwonzora-aligned councillors.

“July Moyo is the single greatest threat to service delivery, stability and wellbeing of cities, towns and rural district councils,” Chamisa told The NewsHawks this week.

“He is the self-appointed prefect and taking councils as classrooms. Stop behaving like that and acting like a prefect on those who were elected.”

“Who elected you? You even have a disputed appointing authority and all, fighting those given a mandate by the citizens,” Chamisa fumed as Moyo continues in his quest to silence recently elected CCC councillors.

Moyo lost in his bid to represent Redcliff in Parliament in the 2018 elections and was only appointed minister as part of the five that the President can appoint to cabinet without parliamentary seats.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader said Moyo’s action targeting CCC councillors was meant to frustrate them and pave way for facilitation of murky commercial deals and in pursuit of a suspicious Zanu-PF agenda.

“This behaviour is all meant to facilitate sinister deals. Interference is a form of corruption. That must stop, this is a scandal.”

“Corruption is at the centre of it all,” Chamisa said.

The NewsHawks has on several occasions exposed Moyo’s questionable interests at Town House where he has set base while eyeing multi-million-dollar deals.

The Zanu-PF secretary for transport and welfare is accused of working with MDC-T councillors who recently approved a US$136 000 budget for the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) trip in Bulawayo at a time service delivery in the capital city is at an all-time low.

Moyo is accused by CCC councillors of personally facilitating and superintending over a dodgy US$400 million Pomona Waste Management facility that involves a Netherlands-based firm.

The Netherlands company is represented in Zimbabwe by controversial businessman and friend of the First Family Delish Nguwaya who was also embroiled in a Covid-19 multi-million-dollar scandal.

Moyo personally attended the signing ceremony at Town House in Harare and made sure the suspicious deal was signed. He is locked in a war of attrition with CCC councillors elected in the 26 March 2022 by-elections amid fears the new office bearers could reverse his deals.

Last week, Moyo reversed a lawful move by CCC councillors to dissolve committees mainly led by MDC-T councillors, saying the move was unconstitutional.

In what is clear confirmation that Moyo is conniving with MDC-T councillors in a plot to block the CCC from Town House, the opposition party’s secretary for local government, Faith Musarurwa, accused the Chamisa-led party of being “foolish” by trying to come up with new leaders for council committees.

“They want to replace them with their members who were recently elected. We find their actions clearly malicious, childish, unlawful and foolish,” Musarurwa said.

Moyo has insisted that despite the election of Enock Mupamaonde as acting mayor in place of Jacob Mafume who still has issues before the courts, the minister’s preferred choice, Stewart Mutizwa, remains in charge.

–NewsHawks