Lawfare and Looting, ZACC, Councils and the Cost of Complicity

Who Will Save Our Towns?

By Shingirai Vambe

RUSAPE – A growing storm of legal battles, corruption allegations, and misuse of public funds is engulfing Zimbabwe’s local governance structures, with the Ministry of Local Government, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), and the Local Government Board all finding themselves under intense scrutiny. These institutions, established to ensure oversight and good governance, are now being accused of aiding and abetting a system that bleeds local authorities dry, not through incompetence alone, but through complicity.

The recent lawsuit against Guruve Rural District Council, in which former Chief Executive Officer Tinos Marisa is pursuing US$300,000 in damages for what he claims was a malicious and politically motivated arrest, has reignited debate about how deep the rot runs. The case is far from isolated. Legal practitioners, emboldened by glaring procedural loopholes and institutional weaknesses at ZACC and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), have aggressively pursued payouts against councils, fully aware that investigations are selective, and prosecutions rarely follow merit.

Hurungwe Rural District Council convictions has been recorded as the first and pace setter following several cases that have been struck off the role and some forgotten if they still exist.

In Rusape, the same story unfolds with greater drama. Town Secretary Solomon Gabaza, whose reinstatement sparked outrage among residents and civil society, is accused of using his position to settle personal scores rather than steer the town toward meaningful development. Since his appointment, Gabaza has led what critics describe as a “purge” of council employees, including those who have long since left the institution, in what many believe to be acts of revenge, not reform.

Despite Rusape’s ambition to attain city status, development remains stagnant. Basic infrastructure is crumbling. Employees go months, even years, without receiving full salaries or allowances. Meanwhile, the local authority has spent vast, undisclosed sums on legal fees, public relations gimmicks, and travel, all while ignoring legitimate requests from residents and the business community to release its annual budget, a public document by law.

“Council is now a fortress of secrets, a club for the powerful. Ratepayers are just funders of elite battles,” said one council employee, who requested anonymity for fear of victimization.

Multiple reports submitted to ZACC concerning maladministration in Rusape have either gone uninvestigated or been deliberately sidelined, fueling accusations that the anti-corruption watchdog has become a conduit for settling political scores rather than dispensing justice.

“ZACC doesn’t follow evidence. They follow politics. They ignore strong cases with documentation and arrest on hearsay when it suits them,” a former council official alleged.

Indeed, Council Chairperson Lovemore Chifomboti was reportedly the architect of a ZACC-initiated arrest involving a staff-led solar energy project. The matter is still on its preliminary stage and the Post will not dwell much until the case goes on trial. However, residents on the Rusape Residents Trust whatsapp platform claim Councillors are just rubber stampers and the hand behind this arrest is that of Gabaza.

When concerns about Gabaza’s allegedly unlawful reinstatement were raised, the Local Government Board (LGB) Chairperson Stephen Chakaipa initially responded to this journalist, only to go silent when pressed further. The backpay and allowances owed to Gabaza reportedly exceed USD $240,000, even though he had been relieved of his duties over a criminal abuse of office case. A Ministry circular expressly forbids reinstating such individuals, yet the Ministry has failed to enforce its own directive.

Curiously, ZACC has taken no further steps to investigate how a man with a pending criminal record resumed office, especially when documentation — not investigation, should suffice. Residents now believe that both ZACC and the LGB have chosen to turn a blind eye, possibly they haven’t met, “see and rub shoulders post-reinstatement.

The impact of these legal escapades is devastating, investment has dried up, morale among council workers is at rock bottom, and confidence in local governance has collapsed. Residents, believing their money is misused, are increasingly refusing to pay rates and levies.

“Why pay for council services when all the money is going to lawyers, hotels, and courtrooms?” asked a local business owner, who recently asked council to be transparent.

Notably, Rusape Town Council’s legal team, Absalom and Shepherd Legal Practitioners, recently threatened The Post On Sunday with legal action over previous coverage, https://postonsunday.co.zw/2025/05/25/rusape-residents-quest-for-answers-amid-employees-firing-suspension/ and https://postonsunday.co.zw/2025/05/12/residents-demand-answers-amid-futile-desperate-attempts-to-defend-council/. However, their correspondence failed to point out a single falsehood, misquote, or defamatory statement, leading many to conclude that the council is using public money to muzzle the press and protect a few powerful individuals.

Another scandal surrounds the tender for renovating Rusape’s old education building, with an estimated cost exceeding USD $300,000. According to documents reviewed by The Post On Sunday, the tender did not follow proper procurement procedures. The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) confirmed that, “request for proposal tender flighted on 31 October 2024 and closed on 4 November 2024. Hurntspine Enterprises Pvt Ltd was registered on 22 October 2024. The tender was awarded to Hurntspine Enterprises Pvt Ltd. Roadster logistics is not registered with PRAZ and did not participate in the tender, and the tender was not cleared by SPOC,” noted PRAZ.

Despite this, barricades were erected, and vendors forcibly removed from the site, some without alternative premises. Only after a court interdict from the Rusape Magistrates’ Court were operations paused. Yet again, the project was being driven without accountability, with council acting in defiance of both legal process and human decency. Council went further through its lawyers, Absalom and Shepherd Legal Practitioners, to sue Takudzwa Noel Mwasheyenyi for speaking out against the tender and eviction from council rented property. The High Court dismissed the bid to silence critics.

While the Minister of Local Government has issued generic statements expressing concern over “growing challenges” in local authorities, there is little tangible effort to address the structural issues at play. The public is left watching as their towns become arenas for political, legal, and financial manipulation, where service delivery is an afterthought, and residents are reduced to spectators in decisions that affect their daily lives.

The Council that was elected and voted in 2023, has nothing to show, their role in council for the two and half year period, the machinery they officially handed over and celebrated was brought by the previous Council, led by Lyton Sithole and Blessing Pambureni, during the period, the suspended Engineer Charles Chindenga was acting together with Togarepi Nerwande

In Rusape, and many other towns across Zimbabwe, development has become the casualty of corruption, legal warfare, and bureaucratic complicity. And the price is paid not in courtrooms or boardrooms, but in the dry taps, pothole-riddled roads, unpaid workers, and the silence of institutions meant to protect the people.

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