Harare, (New Ziana) – Former Masvingo Town Clerk, Adolf Gusha, has died.
Gusha died on Tuesday in Chinhoyi where he had stopped overnight on his way back to Masvingo from Kariba. He developed chest pains and was rushed to hospital where he succumbed.
Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa, who replaced him at the helm of the Masvingo City Council, confirmed the death, and said the council was preparing a full statement.
Many in Masvingo have taken to social media to express their condolences, and to pay tribute to a man most described as humble and ever smiling.
Gusha retired from the Masvingo City Council in August 2019 after serving the country’s oldest urban settlement for 32 years, 15 of these as town clerk.
He joined the municipality in 1987, and served in various capacities before being appointed substantive town clerk in 2004.
Before that, he worked for Shurugwi Rural District Council and for the Ministry of Local Government.
Gusha served under a number of mayors during his time at the local authority, but would be remembered for his run-ins with former executive mayor, the late Alois Chaimiti in 2007 and 2008.
He won many service delivery awards for the city, but was also there when former employees left the council destitute after a costly legal suit for unpaid wages resulting in all council vehicles getting attached in 2011.
Gusha, however, presided over a remarkable recapitalisation drive which saw the council buying new service vehicles altogether.
The introduction of a roads levy in 2015 drew the indignation of many residents, but it seems the idea has paid off, with the city in 2017 commissioning its own fleet of earth moving equipment needed for road works.
Gusha will mostly be remembered probably for leaving behind a city with one of the cleanest municipal water in the country.
The city has recorded few, if any, incidences of cholera since the first outbreak recorded in the country in 2008, which has killed thousands elsewhere.
New Ziana
