Stephen Chadenga
Gweru City Council has appointed Livingston Churu as substantative town clerk seven years after the dismissal of Elizabeth Gwatipedza who was the city’s accounting officer.
Gwatipedza was fired in 2019 and since then the city has been operating on a succession of acting town clerks.
In a statement yesterday council said the appointment of Churu, who was the city’s finance director before being appointed acting town clerk and now substantive chief executive of the local authority came at a time when the local authority was looking for leadership that drive’s the city’s development trajectory in 2026.
“The mayor of the city of Gweru, councillor Martin Chivhoko, councillors, chamber secretary Mr (Owen) Masimba and management are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr (Livingston) Churu as the substantative town clerk of the city of Gweru,”council said.
“We warmly congratulate Mr Churu on this appointment and look forward to his leadership in driving the city’s development forward.”
Chivhoko yesterday confirmed the appointment of Churu as substantative town clerk.
“The appointment is effective January 22 and we welcome Mr Churu as he takes the driving seat in steering the ship of bringing quality service delivery to the citizens of Gweru,”he said.
Gweru United Progressive Residents and Ratepayers Development Association executive director David Chikore said the appointment was long overdue and noted that as residents they looked forward to the appointment of a substantative town clerk in addressing service delivery challenges affecting the city.
“This appointment was long overdue and we hope it addresses the administrative and management gap that has been there for years in bringing quality service delivery to the people of the Midlands capital,”he said.
Last year the Local Government board directed council to re-advertise the vacant position of town clerk after it indicated that applicants had failed to meet the required standards.