SYDNEY MUBAIWA
GOKWE- Gokwe Town Council, acting secretary Engineer Melsen Masukume has resigned from the post as well as from being the local authority’s engineer.
Masukume confirmed his resignation in a telephone interview with The Midweek Watch recently.
“Yes I have resigned from the two posts,” he said.
The resignation is with effect from 31 December, 2025
Masukume breathed fire last week after the Minister of Local Government and Public Works Daniel Garwe fired him for poor service delivery.
In a letter dated November 20, 2025 and directed to the Gokwe Town Council Chairperson Councillor Licious Mutegwe, Minister said the development was made due to serious concerns regarding maladministration and poor governance during Masukume’s tenure.
“Pursuant to adverse reports and observations vis a vis the conduct of Eng. Masukume on discharging duties as the Acting Town Secretary. I hereby, in terms of Section 313 and 314 of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15) direct council to immediately relieve the incumbent of his duties as Acting Town Secretary for Gokwe Town Council.
“This decision has been made due to serious concerns regarding maladministration and poor governance during the whole tenure of his acting resulting in severe costs while service delivery crumbled.
“Despite efforts to address these issues, inclusive of the directive given to council to protect public funds and foster service delivery, there has been notable failures to implement necessary changes and maintain the standards expected of his position. Specific instances of maladministration have compromised the effective functioning of the office and eroded trust in the governance architecture,” reads part of the letter.
Garwe said going forward, an interim replacement should be urgently established from the available substantive Heads of Department conversant with public administration to assume the responsibilities of the Acting Secretary until a permanent appointment is made.
Residents and councillors who spoke to The Midweek Watch on condition of anonymity in fear of being victimised thanked Minister Garwe for coming to their rescue as poor service delivery and endemic corruption had had resulted in high turnover of senior staff whose corruption cases have featured prominently in headlines in previous years.
In an interview with The Midweek Watch, Gokwe Urban Residents Development Association (GURDA) Secretary General Patrick Chikowore applauded Garwe ‘s decision of firing Masukume.
“As Gokwe residents we are very happy with the minister’s decision because during his tenure, service delivery crumbled and there were no meaningful developments taking place.
“He was only good in talking during meetings but not good at delivery. During his tenure, there was a lot of maladministration and corruption at the local authority.
“We view Nyandoro as the best candidate for this position taking into consideration his extensive knowledge of council administration.
“We are looking forward to have a substantive town secretary so that we have improved governance and revitalised service delivery for the residents,” he said.
“We are very happy with this development. Service delivery here in Gokwe is just painfully poor and we cannot continue like that,” said one of the residents.
He said Masukume has been at the center of all decay and corruption within the local authority where service delivery is nonexistent.
The call for transparency and fairness has never been more urgent, and the pressure is mounting for the council to address its internal inconsistencies.
A Local Government ministry investigation last year made several recommendations to arrest graft but nothing seemed to be changing.
