66 Teachers Double As ZANU PF Councillors While Still On Government Payroll
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is alleged to have reinstated 66 local authority councillors elected in the 2023 harmonised elections, most of them teachers, to their civil service positions, in apparent violation of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The Constitution requires civil servants to resign from their posts when taking up a political office.
A source in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education told Masvingo Mirror that most of the reinstated councillors are not reporting for work, despite receiving full salaries. This arrangement has placed heavy workloads on teachers who must cover the duties of absent councillors.
ARTUZ president Obert Masaraure criticised the practice, saying that with limited treasury funds, it is highly irresponsible to pay for “ghost workers.”
The matter stems from a memo written by then PSC Secretary Tsitsi Choruma on 23 November 2023, just three months after the general elections.
The memo informed the Permanent Secretary for Education, Moses Mhike, that 66 teachers who had resigned to serve as councillors were to be reinstated immediately.
Choruma also directed that the days the teachers had been absent from work should be recorded as unpaid leave.
The issue came to light when 15 councillors who had not been reinstated discovered what had happened to their colleagues and sought similar reinstatement.
Their request, submitted on 7 October 2025 by Joram Gumbo, a Special Adviser to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, was rejected by PSC chairman Vincent Hungwe, despite Choruma’s earlier directive.
Hungwe argued in a confidential memo obtained by Masvingo Mirror that reinstating elected politicians would be unconstitutional, citing Section 200 (3) and (4) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act 2013. Wrote Hungwe:
“According to the provisions of Section 200 (3) and (4) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act, 2013, all members of the Pubic Service who were duly elected to office in the 2023 harmonised elections, relinquished their pre-election positions in Government.”
Lawyer Martin Mureri said the reinstatement contravenes Circular Number 10 of 2018, which requires civil servants to resign within 30 days of being elected to public office. He said:
“In the absence of your resignation letter, you are deemed to have elected to remain a member of the civil service.”
Among the notable councillors reinstated in Masvingo is Euphrasia Ruvai, the wife of Masvingo Minister of State Ezra Chadzamira, who teaches at Gaths Mine Primary School in Mashava.
Also reinstated are Lyllett Makomeke, chairperson of Teachers 4ED in Masvingo Province and Bikita Schools Inspector; former Bikita RDC chairperson Benjamin Masakadze, a teacher at Zindove Primary School; Admire Matutu, a teacher at Zvomupungu Primary in Mwenezi; and Rhoda Makhaza, headteacher at Odzi Secondary in Bikita.
Makomeke said she was not aware that civil servants are required to resign after being elected to public office.
A small number of opposition politicians who lost in the elections have also been reinstated. They include Emmanuel Punungwe, a teacher at Badza Primary School in Chikomba, who contested the Chikomba West parliamentary seat against Tatenda Matevera.
