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Harare City’s substantive director of Health Services Dr Prosper Chonzi has turned down his secondment to the position of acting town clerk in order to effectively execute the task of combating the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Chonzi was offered the town clerk’s position by acting Harare Mayor Stewart Mutizwa following the suspension of town clerk Hosiah Chisango who is facing criminal matters pending at the courts on allegations of criminal abuse of office.
In a letter seen by Nhau addressed to Mutizwa, Chonzi said his department of Health needed him most at this critical time when he is at the helm of Harare’s Covid-19 response strategy.
“Leadership will be key to saving lives and in controlling this pandemic in an effective and efficient manner. It will be a travesty and an act of professional irresponsibility on my part to abandon leadership of the City’s health service at this critical point in time and my conscience will forever hound me if I do so,” wrote Dr Chonzi.
“Your worship, it is my humble submission that it is not prudent to change guard at the Health department at this crucial point in the response to this unprecedented outbreak that has shocked the city to its core.”
Chonzi further stated that Harare had a lot of challenges including town planning, land management issues, water and sewer reticulation deficits, waste management, finance and cash flow challenges among others, which need a full time person.
“Your worship, while I fully appreciate the confidence you have reposed in me, I am under no illusion on the magnitude of the challenges the City is facing and at the same time I am fully cognisant of the responsibilities bestowed on me by council, the residents of Harare and by the Secretary for Health to lead the Covid-19 pandemic response. After taking all these into account, and careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that I am unable to take up the post at this point in time,” he said.
Harare has remained the country’s Covid-19 hotspot and as of yesterday, 1 death was recorded in the province and 14 new active cases were identified.
The province has a total of 12298 infections with 10262 recoveries, 1506 active cases and 530 deaths. Nhau/Indaba
