Mafume best deal for Harare, says Tshabangu

Oscar J Jeke

Current Mayor of Harare, Councillor Jacob Mafume, is the right person for the City of Harare, disputed Citizens Coalition for Change secretary-general, Sengezo Tshabangu has said.

This comes as reports have been circulating that CCC president Nelson Chamisa had fired Mafume and six other councillors for “scheming” with Tshabangu.

In an interview with Zim Now, Tshabangu said Mafume’s presence had “shaken all corridors of power”.

“Our able and Qualified Mayor Jacob Mafume is the right deal for Harare City Council. His presence has shaken all corridors of power and touched the service delivery nervous system. Small boys trying to ride a Charged Elephant,” Tshabangu told Zim Now.

This comes as the politics at Town House is getting complicated with persons accusing each other of working with rival factions of the opposition political outfit.

However, lawyer Moffat Makuvatsine, in an interview with Zim Now, said a party leader cannot fire a sitting mayor directly.

“The removal of a Mayor from office is governed by Section 278 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe of 2013. This section provides for two scenarios upon which a mayor maybe removed from office. The first is through a recalling done by his/her party in terms of Section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution. The party concerned gives a letter to the Speaker of Parliament so as to announce that the Councillor (who is mayor in this case) has ceased to be that party’s member. This ignites a proclamation of elections by the President. The second scenario is when an independent tribunal set up to hear allegations against a mayor makes a finding that he/she is no longer fit to continue holding that office,” Makuvatsine told Zim Now.

The legal practitioner added that directly, a party leader cannot fire a mayor but indirectly he can.

“This occurs when a mayor is fired from his party and a letter is send to the Speaker of Parliament notifying him that the Mayor, in his/her capacity as an elected Councillor on their party ticket, has ceased to be their member. The Speaker will be obliged to announce this position in Parliament in terms of Section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution. Once that has been done, the mayor ceases office by virtue of the recalling as a Councillor and not as a mayor,” he said.

Makuvatsine continued: “In simple terms, a party leader can only fire a mayor as a member of the party and not from the position of being a mayor. For it to be said that an indirect firing of the mayor has been done by a party leader, it has to be followed by a letter from the party to the Speaker of Parliament advising that the mayor is no longer a member of their party upon which he/she was elected Councillor. Until such a time the recall is done, the mayor remains in office.”