The Makhado Local Council has at last made appointments in senior positions at the municipality. The appointments are long overdue as some departments had to function without senior managers since 2018.

During a special council meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the announcement was made that the acting municipal manager (MM), Mr Kent Nemaname, had been appointed in a more permanent capacity. Nemaname, who was previously appointed as the municipality’s chief financial officer (CFO), acted in this position since the resignation of the late Mr Freddy Tshivhengwa in December 2020.

With Nemaname now being appointed as MM, the position of CFO becomes vacant. Mr Godfrey Raliphada, who has been acting as CFO, will continue to do so until the vacancy is filled.

The new director of corporate services is Mr SD Maguga. He was acting in this position before his appointment. Mr A Mabunda was appointed as the new director of development planning while Ms DG Siboiboi was appointed as the director of technical services. Mr HJ Lukheli, who previously acted in this position, was appointed as director of community services.

The new municipal manager and the directors will start working on 1 September. They have been appointed on five-year contracts.

Makhado Municipality’s mayor, Cllr Samuel Munyai, said filling all senior management positions was important to make sure that the municipality delivered services effectively. He said that the council had confidence in Mr Nemaname and all the newly appointed directors.

“Given the fact that the officials are not new to the municipality, coupled with their proven leadership qualities and academic excellence, we are confident that Nemaname and the other officials are the right persons to occupy these positions,” he said.

ICR councillor Dan Singo said that as an opposition party they were glad to see that the vacant posts had at last been filled. He said that they were going to monitor the work delivered by the directors and the municipal manager. He accused the municipality of abusing taxpayers’ money by not filling these senior positions for such a long period of time.

Democratic Alliance councillor Pierre Smalle said that they supported the appointment of a municipal manager and senior directors. He said this was long overdue.