By A Correspondent| Suspended Gweru City Town Clerk Vakayi Chikwekwe says his suspension is confusing as there are contradictions in the letter of suspension and what is mentioned in the special council resolution.

Chikwekwe was suspended for allegedly violating tender procedures resulting in companies Shesham, Cacas and Wackdrive winning tenders to service stands in the city.

Chikwekwe says he is finding it difficult to explore his legal options because of the contradictions in the two documents.

His lawyer Admire Rubaya of Rubaya and Chatambudza Legal Practitioners has written to the council seeking clarity and challenging the suspension.

He argues that he is just but a council employee with no power to award any tender but it was a collective decision by councilors in a special council meeting who are now making it his case.

“Our client is concerned with clear selective amnesia on the part of the council members relating to the memorandum of agreements for the servicing of Mkoba 21 and Randolph Phase 1 by Shesham, Cacas and Wackdrive.

“It should be noted and sight should not be lost that our client is just a council official who does not make decisions during council meetings.

“Careful consideration of the documents relating to the alleged tender procedures clearly exposes his arrest and suspension as an abuse of the criminal justice system by political players for political expedience,” the letter reads.

The lawyers said Chikwekwe had no role in the signing and awarding of the tenders as it was done by his predecessors.

He questioned the decision to leave the said person’s including the former Mayor who signed as the council representative while targeting him only.

“In the circumstances, where it is alleged that there was alleged unlawfulness in the process of awarding the tender to Cacas, Wackdrive and Shesham, the million-dollar question is what about Cllr J. Makombe who signed the agreements as well?”

His lawyers also said they will be approaching the High Court on urgent basis if a special committee of inquiry set against him is not disbanded as it is made up of people who were part of the tender awarding process.

“It is unjust and unfair for these councillors to constitute the committee in question in circumstances where they are seeking to save their own skins at the expense of our client who is an innocent soul,” the letter read.

He argues that there is nothing criminal on his part and he is just a victim of abuse by individuals through the justice delivery system and ZACC.

“It is our client’s considered view that he did nothing wrong nor did he act in any manner which can be adjudged to be criminal in terms of the laws of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

“It seems as if the powers that be within the council are abusing the criminal justice system and Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission for our client to assume the alleged collective liability be it criminal or otherwise on behalf of the council which made the alleged offending decision to award the tenders.

“Our client asserts that there are other members in your council who are abusing their powers to protect themselves and have embarked on a frolic of their own to protect their own skins in circumstances where they are the only ones who can explain their own decisions and not drag an innocent soul like him into issues that do not relate to him at all.

“It is therefore clear as daylight that our client being a mere council employee without a vote in council and /or decision making powers to pass council resolution did not make the decision to award the alleged tenders but the Council in its wisdom as constituted by 16 councillors made the ultimate decision to award the tenders in question to the specific companies,” the lawyers wrote.