UNDER-FIRE Bulawayo deputy mayor Tinashe Kambarami was this week re-elected to his post despite efforts to recall him from the position, Southern Eye has learnt.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
Kambarami on Sunday stepped down from the post after succumbing to pressure from the MDC Alliance leadership that had given him a seven-day ultimatum.
He was accused of defying a party directive on the selection of the city’s deputy mayor.
Kambarami, however, bounced back 24 hours later, assuming the position of deputy mayor unopposed as the opposing faction linked to the mayor, Solomon Mguni, failed to field a candidate.
MDC Alliance spokesperson Jacob Mafume confirmed the latest developments.
“The issue has been resolved. It was never about him as an individual, but about the process on the selection of deputy mayor. That is why he was not disqualified to stand, had any election taken place on Monday,” he said On reports that the anti-Kambarami camp was threatening to sideline the deputy mayor in the running of council business, Mafume said: “Now that the issue has been resolved, we expect council business to then run smoothly.
Councils are creatures of statutes; they operate under the confines of the law and I am sure that they (councillors) will not do anything that is outside the confines of the law.”
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Mguni also said they had resolved their differences and were now focused on delivering service to the residents. “We were elected into office to provide a service, and our focus now is just that. The issue is water under the bridge,” he said.
Town clerk Christopher Dube also told Southern Eye that Kambarami had retained his post after weeks of pressure to step aside.
He said the local authority was guided by the party’s decision and would not entangle itself in councillors’ factional disputes.
“They can fight as much as they want, expel or recall any of the councillors, but as long as we are not notified as council, it does not concern us. As for the issue of deputy mayor, from all I know, we have not been notified that there is a vacancy and as such, we take it that Kambarami is the deputy mayor,” Dube said. Kambarami, however was unreachable for comment.
