The Bulawayo City Council’s decision to extend town clerk Christopher Dube’s contract for another year has been met with outrage from residents, civic groups, and political activists, who have labeled the move selfish and retrogressive.
The one-year extension to November 2026 marked the second time Dube’s tenure has been prolonged.
It was approved while the council awaits a legal opinion from the attorney general on applying a new statutory instrument that raises the retirement age for council executives to 70.
Dube, who has held the position since 2016, was initially granted a two-year extension in 2024.
His current contract was set to expire this month.
Last month, he personally wrote to councillors requesting that they rescind their earlier decision and grant him a five-year extension to 2030, citing the new government policy.
Instead, after a meeting between mayor David Coltart and Dube, the general purposes committee resolved to extend the contract by only one year.
A council report stated the move would allow time to “seek an opinion on the application of Statutory Instrument 197/2024 to fixed-term contracts.”
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The repeated extensions have drawn widespread condemnation, with many drawing parallels to political manoeuvres at the national level.
“Why does one individual merit repeated extensions, while countless qualified professionals especially from the local Ndebele community remain sidelined?” asked Mthwakazi Republic Party leader Mqondisi Moyo.
“Granting repeated extensions risks importing a culture of entrenched privilege, stagnation, and exclusion into our city.”
Civic Society and Churches Joint Forum national coordinator Max Mnkandla, said Dube was a disgrace.
“This man must just step down now, “ he said.
“Those who are extending his term are the same beneficiaries of corruption, especially on stands issues.”
Zapu’s Bulawayo secretary, Vivian Siziba, questioned the necessity of extending Dube’s term in the face of collapsing service delivery.
“His predecessors since independence never clung to that position, why him now?” he said.
“His quest to stick to that position meticulously rhymes with Zanu PF’s slogan ‘2030 Anenge Aripo’.”
The contract saga has been fraught with procedural controversies.
Internal sources alleged that Dube became bitter with the general purposes committee after it previously rejected his push for a longer extension, deeming it illegal.
He is now alleged to have lobbied councillors to dissolve the committee.
Dube reportedly bypassed the human resources committee to draft his own council report arguing for the extension and refused to recuse himself from deliberations on his contract, creating a clear conflict of interest.
In his defence, development practitioner Thembelani Dube noted that the extension is “within the dictates of the statutory instrument.”
However, for many residents, the focus is on service delivery, not the town clerk’s tenure.
Ben Moyo, a senior citizen and educationist, said: “Residents want proper service delivery. Will the extension improve efficiency and timely attention to leakages of sewer and litter collection?”
