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City Mourns Former Town Clerk

His Worship Solomon Mguni, the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors, Town Clerk, Mr C Dube, Heads of Council Departments, staff and residents of the City of Bulawayo have learnt with sadness of the passing on of the former Town Clerk, Dr Michael Mkanyiso Ndubiwa on Tuesday, 4 May 2021. Dr Ndubiwa was born on the 7th of August 1934 in Inyathi District (He was 87 years old.) He served as the Town Clerk of the City of Bulawayo from the 1st September 1984 to 31st August 1999 when he retired.

Before joining the City of Bulawayo, Dr Ndubiwa worked as an Untrained Assistant Teacher under the African Education Department (January 1958 to December 1958), Bank Clerk for the Barclays Bank (1959 to 1961) and as a Cadet Revenue Clerk for the Rhodesian Government Civil Service (1961 to 1962).

He first joined the City of Bulawayo as an Administrative Assistant - Finance, Rent Collection and Staff Relations in the City’s Housing and Amenities Department (25 January 1963 to 19 June 1964) before leaving Council for further study. He studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Administration Degree between 1964 and 1967 at the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (Roma University). During his vacations he worked as a temporary Administrative Assistant before re- joining the City of Bulawayo on the 22nd January 1968 as an Administrative Assistant in the City Housing and Amenities Department after the completion of his study.

He held various positions in the City of Bulawayo which also included;

  • Administrative Assistant [1963 to 1973].
  • Superintendent – Lobengula / Pelandaba Housing Area [1973 – 1975].
  • Administrative Officer I [1975 – 1978].
  • Senior Administrative Officer – Housing and Community Services Department [1978 - July 1979].

He was appointed Deputy Town Clerk of the City of Bulawayo on the 16th August 1979. He became the first African (Black) before independence to hold such a position and was the first African to qualify for a Diploma in the Institute of Town Clerks of Southern Africa, a qualification he obtained the same year. He was appointed to the position of Town Clerk Designate on the 4th November 1982 and Town Clerk on the 1st September 1984 following the retirement of the then Town Clerk, Mr I G Edmeades.

During his role as the Town Clerk, Dr Ndubiwa was responsible for the administration of the City of Bulawayo. He sought to revamp the then “administrative structures and processes to achieve an integrated administrative machine in line with the changing social structures”. Following his appointment as Town Clerk designate, he said that the critical issue was that the “efficiency of Council should not drop, and “anything I can do in my new role is to sustain this and make whatever improvements which are possible, my top priority in my work”. He was key in enhancing a culture of efficiency, productiveness, excellence and transparency within the City of Bulawayo which ensured that City continued to provide quality services.

During his term of office in the City of Bulawayo he sat on several boards and professional bodies which included;

  • Associate members of the Zimbabwe Institute of Management [1980].
  • Censorship Appeal Board under the Ministry of Home Affairs [1980 – 1982].
  • Trustee for the Mass Media Trust [1981].
  • Member of the Institute of Housing, Southern Africa.
  • Bulawayo Round Table No.3 [1986 - 1990].
  • Technical College Advisory Council [1987 - 1990]
  • Alternate member for the Industrial Council for the Municipal Undertaking [1988/1989].
  • Delimitation Committee [1990].
  • Foundation Committee of the National University of Science and Technology [1990] and many others.

Our deepest sympathy goes to his Wife, children, grandchildren and the entire Ndubiwa family and Bulawayo at large.

COUNCILLOR SOLOMON MGUNI MAYOR

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