The Victoria Falls Residents Consortium has petitioned police to expedite a corruption investigation into Town Clerk Ronnie Dube , who has been under probe over a series of allegations, including the allocation of stands.
The renewed push follows Dube’s reinstatement earlier this year by a government minister, a decision that drew public debate in the resort city.
The allegations, which first surfaced in 2024, stemmed from a board of inquiry that ruled Dube had a case to answer regarding the disposal of council property.
According to documents seen by the Zimbabwe Independent, the inquiry raised several issues.
These included the allocation of residential stands under the BE100 scheme, the hiring of a consultancy under terms that allegedly prejudiced the council of over US$157 000, and the sale of Stand Number 1829.
On the strength of those findings, the local authority suspended Dube. However, in January, Local Government and Public Works minister Daniel Garwe overturned the suspension, citing provisions of the Urban Councils Act.
In its latest correspondence, the consortium wrote to national police spokesperson Paul Nyathi, seeking feedback on progress in case number 6219269, filed against Dube.
The letter reads in part: “On behalf of Victoria Falls community, Herbert Ncube and Trymore Ndolo, under the Victoria Falls Residents Consortium banner, filed a case against Ronnie Dube, the Town Clerk of Victoria Falls City Council.
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“We made numerous follow ups per attached correspondence, and the residents feel the responses from the authorities do not satisfy their expectations in line with the evidence at hand. They have recommended that we bring up the matter to your attention for your indulgence.”
Before approaching Nyathi, residents had also petitioned police in Victoria Falls and Hwange districts.
On June 20, they received a response from local police indicating the case had been referred to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc).
“Kindly be advised that the case was initially reported to and investigated by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission. The outcome was not shared with the police,” part of the correspondence read.
“In light of this, we recognise that the police cannot conduct parallel investigations with Zacc. We recommend that a follow up on the report be forwarded to Zacc for their consideration and further action. We believe that Zacc is best positioned to review the new information and determine the next course of action.”
Residents, however, argued that delays in addressing the matter had intensified their concerns.
They wrote: “The residents are further concerned that despite all the above attempts to arrest corruption at the VFCC (Victoria Falls City Council), the cancer seems to be gathering momentum.
“There are fresh allegations of abuse of land allocating procedures at the VFCC and harassment of employees for cooperating with legally constituted investigating institutions like Zacc and the board of inquiry.”
While residents press for further action, Dube’s lawyers insist due process was not followed during the inquiry.
In documents reviewed by this publication, Ncube Attorneys, acting for Dube, wrote to then acting Town Clerk Kholwani Mangena on December 11 last year, arguing the board of inquiry had not put substantive issues before their client.
The letter stated: “We seek to place it on record that we appeared together with our client before the board of inquiry. Having raised a number of preliminary objections, the board thereafter determined that it will await to hear from council on whether they grant us the requested time to appear before it again on Monday, the 16th of December 2024. For the record, no factual issues were put to our client to respond to.”
Minutes of a December 10 meeting also show that Dube’s legal team challenged the board’s authority, arguing that it lacked the mandate to proceed without ministerial approval.
The minutes read: “Advocate Ndlovu informed the meeting that they have objections to place on record before proceedings. He listed the objections as follows: That the board does not have the authority or power to conduct proceedings due to the following reasons.
“That the minister of Local Government and Public Works wrote a letter addressed to the mayor dated December 6, 2024 with reference: Rescission of council resolution to suspend Mr R. Dube.
“The minister noted that the suspension was not in line with Section 139(4) of the Urban Councils Act.”
In addition, Dube’s lawyers noted that the composition of the three-member board — was being contested at the High Court.
