The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Bulawayo province has disowned a motion tabled by one of its councillors, which sought to dissolve a key council committee, a move believed to be a ploy for a further extension of town clerk Christopher Dube’s tenure.
The party has since ordered the sponsor of the motion Cowdray Park councillor, Nkosilathi Hove Mpofu, and all who supported it to withdraw the motion immediately or face disciplinary action.
The crisis erupted after the council’s general purposes (GP) committee rejected a proposal from Dube himself to initiate a motion extending his contract to 2028, with committee members describing the move as “illegal and unfeasible.”
In a strongly-worded message to its councillors and GP committee members on Friday, the CCC Bulawayo provincial leadership stated the motion was “null and void” as it did not represent the party’s official position.
“We would like to bring to your attention that this motion is not a party position,” the message read.
“May all the councillors, who were involved in that motion and the author of it withdraw that motion with immediate effect as advised by Senator Kucaca Phulu speaking on behalf of the secretary general and the Bulawayo provincial leadership.”
The party warned that failure to comply would result in “disciplinary measures,” noting that some members were resisting the order by claiming to be “in touch with the CCC party’s highest office.”
The controversy stems from Dube’s efforts to remain in his post.
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Dube, who initially retired at the end of his four-year contract in September 2023, was granted a one-year extension by councillors.
However, the town clerk who has been in the role since October 2016, reportedly sought to leverage a new government policy on retirement ages.
He requested that council rescind the one-year extension and instead grant him a new term that would allow him to serve until the age of 70, which would be in 2028.
The request was rejected by the general purposes committee, which includes several legally-minded councillors who argued that altering his current contractual term was illegal.
In a subsequent move viewed by insiders as retaliation, Mpofu tabled a motion on October 27 seeking the dissolution of the very committee that blocked Dube’s proposal.
Confidential council minutes seen by Southern Eye showed that the strategy was to remove dissenting councillors from the influential committee and replace them with members that would be more amenable to the town clerk’s ambitions.
“The town clerk was now on a witch hunt against councillors in the general purposes committee that rejected his request,” a councillor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
“Since then, he has been angry and has allegedly influenced some councillors to dissolve the committee.”
The motion, signed by 16 councillors, would be tabled before a full council vote this month.
The motion has sparked a complex procedural debate.
Chamber secretary Sikhangele Zhou pointed out that council committees elect their own chairpersons under the Urban Councils Act, and the council cannot directly appoint them.
Mpofu’s motion argued that the council should dissolve the current committees and reconstitute them, a process that would allow new committees to then elect their own leadership, potentially ousting the current chairs, who opposed Dube’s proposed term extension.
The CCC’s intervention has thrown this plan into disarray, forcing a political retreat and exposing deep divisions within the council.
