Chombo strikes again as he dismisses deputy of Mayor of Mutare

By Tichaona Sibanda
13 November 2009

Local government minister Ignatious Chombo has dismissed the deputy Mayor of Mutare and replaced him with a discredited councillor who recently defected to ZANU PF.

Chombo was in the eastern border town on Wednesday where he unilaterally dismissed Itai Masaka as deputy Mayor and substituted him with Admire Mukorera, in a move that has left the MDC seething with rage.

The Mutare council is dominated by the MDC who won all the 19 council wards during last year’s elections. Mukorera was elected on an MDC ticket but fell out of favour with the party after he was condemned for stealing meat, meant for mourners at Susan Tsvangirai’s funeral in Buhera earlier in the year. Immedately after this fall-out he defected to ZANU PF but still held his seat in council.

The MDC provincial leadership held a crisis meeting in Mutare on Friday and resolved not to recognise Chombo’s directive. The MDC spokesman for the province, Pishai Muchauraya, told SW Radio Africa that the MDC led council will ignore Chombo’s latest manovoures to bring in ZANU PF people through the back door. He said the MDC will not brook any interference from Chombo in council affairs, and called for the urgent reform of the Urban Council’s Act, which gives too much power to the minister.

‘As far as we are concerned Masaka is still the deputy Mayor of Mutare. Council statutes clearly state that the Mayor and his deputy shall be elected by a full council caucus. So when has Chombo become a Mutare councillor? Asked Muchauraya.

The Makoni South MP said as far as they were concerned the only people who recognise Mukorera as deputy Mayor are those from the Local government offices in Harare and not the people of Mutare.

‘This is what we call abuse of power by Chombo. He has no mandate to dismiss a deputy mayor for no apparent reason. In fact we know he was carrying out a ZANU PF mandate,’ Muchauraya said. This is not the first time that Chombo has meddled in the affairs of the Mutare council. In 2005, he ousted mayor Misheck Kagurabadza and his council, and in their place appointed a commission chaired by Fungai Chayeruka.