The suspension of Harare mayor Bernard Manyenyeni from his official duties and the freezing of all benefits and allowances associated with that position is no doubt political. The same tactic was dangerously used by former Local Government ministers Ignatius Chombo.
AMHVoices,Pardon Maguta
A chain of mayors from the opposition MDC-T were shown the exit door, among them Elias Mudzuri, of Harare, the late Misheck Kagurabadza, of Mutare and Brian James, also of Mutare.
All these were suspended and later fired from their mayoral posts by Chombo abusing his position.
Saviour Kasukuwere is using the same method, but more vigorously as we move towards the 2018 elections.
The suspension of the Harare mayor, just like that of Gweru mayor Hamutendi Kombayi, is political. It is a fight between MDC-T mayors and a Zanu PF minister.
The problem is, such fights always end up overturning and sidelining the people’s will. The councillors and mayors do not impose themselves, but are voted into these positions by their respective wards. It is improper for one overzealous minister to just wake up and overturn the people’s decision to satisfy the egos of his party.
By removing the mayor from council through spurious allegations, Kasukuwere is undermining the people’s vote and, therefore, he is offside.
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It is part of the ruling Zanu PF’s 2018 election campaign strategy to weaken the opposition by such moves and divert the opposition parties’ attention and stop planning anything as they fight to have their councillors reinstated, which will never happen anywhere given Zanu PF’s intransigence when it comes to matters of this kind.
From our past experiences, no amount of pressure made Chombo to reinstate any opposition mayor he fired during his tenure as Local Government minister.
As we wait for the outcome of the court challenge filed by Manyenyeni opposing his suspension, the opposition parties must not lose focus, but prepare for the coming polls.
