AT least 10 newly-elected MDC Alliance councillors in Mutare last week submitted their curriculum vitaes and went through interviews for the mayoral post, amid reports that four of them had emerged as front runners for the position.
BY KENNETH NYANGANI
These include lawyer and ward 12 councillor-elect Simon Chabuka, Chrispen Dube (ward 9), Blessing Tandi (ward 14) and Kudakwashe Chisango (ward 16).
The MDC Alliance won 18 out of the 19 council seats, with one seat going to an independent candidate.
Sources privy to the goings-on in the opposition party’s selection process told NewsDay yesterday that the mayoral candidates were tested on their understanding of local governance issues, their vision to turn around the city’s fortunes and improve service delivery.
Chabuka reportedly scored high during the interviews, followed by one of the most long-serving councilors, Chisango.
“Yes we were interviewed in the capital, but any one of the councillors has an equal chance of becoming the mayor the are just waiting for the day,” Chisango said.
Chabuka refused to be drawn much into the debate.
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“I don’t want to comment much on the matter since there are still some processes that are still going on,” he said.
United Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Trust director Sebastian Bakare urged the opposition to ensure the best candidate takes the mayoral seat.
“We are urging the MDC-T to come up with a best candidate to take up the mayoral post. If the mayor is corrupt we are going to make a big shout in the newspapers and the party’s name will be tainted,” he said.
He said the mayor should understand issues of governance and interact with ratepayers.
“Corruption is one of our major challenges at Mutare City. Things have been going wrong. As residents, we are not there to make enemies, but we are also there to make friendship and dialogue on some issues that is affecting our city,” he said.
