Jockeying for Kwekwe mayoral post begins

Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau
Former Kwekwe mayor Councillor Shadreck Tobaiwa is tipped to land the mayoral post for the city for the second time amid revelations that jockeying for the position was intensifying with six councillors interested in Kwekwe’s first citizen post.

Kwekwe City Council seats were predominantly won by the opposition MDC- Alliance with Zanu-PF managing only one council seat in Ward 6.

Cde Matenda Madzoke, who has been the Mayor of Kwekwe under the ruling party’s ticket, lost the seat to MDC Alliance’s Charles Judah. Six councillors including Cllr Tobaiwa have reportedly thrown their names into the ring for the mayoral position.

Sources told The Herald that the jockeying for the post is so tense that it has caused divisions in the MDC-Alliance Midlands South provincial executive on who should take over from the outgoing mayor.

“The problem with the opposition Alliance is that it was just created for the sake of the elections, now that the elections are over, some councillors who won the council seats are not MDC members, they only got into council under the MDC- Alliance banner and we want real MDC members to be in charge of council business,” said one MDC Chamisa member who requested not to be named.

The source said the MDC party leadership wants Cllr Tobaiwa to take over the mayoral post.

“The argument is that Cllr Tobaiwa has been the mayor up to 2013 when he then lost in the elections so he has some experience,” he said. “Every other contestant is a newcomer they were not even councillors before, so the party prefers someone with a bit of experience.”

Contacted for comment, Cllr Tobaiwa confirmed submitting his CV for the mayoral post. He said he intends to carry on with some of the projects he had initiated.

“I understand there are five other councillors vying for the post. All of them are new in council but it is my hope that if I am elected to the mayoral post, I will continue with the projects I had initiated when I was the mayor back then,” he said.

MDC-T Midlands South provincial chair Mr Sedwell Bhebhe was not available for a comment yesterday. Others councillors vying for the mayoral posts are Future Chitore, Melody Chigarande, Joshua Tinago and Angeline Kasipo.