MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai will be in Bulawayo on Thursday to help his party select the city’s next mayor amid indications that National University of Science and Technology lecturer Mandla Nyathi will land the post.
Nqobile Bhebhe
MDC-T won all the city’s 29 wards during the July 31 elections, but the party has cast its net wider for former mayor Thaba Moyo’s successor, saying the position now required a strong candidate.
The party, which would also dominate the newly-created provincial council, argues that the position of mayor should be equal to that of a governor in the previous set-up.
MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said the selection of the mayor was now being handled by the party’s national executive — hence Tsvangirai’s visit.
He dismissed reports that Nyathi had already been chosen as the next mayor, saying the party was still considering some names.
“The next mayor for Bulawayo and other cities will be made known before the end of the week. We are through with Harare,” Mwonzora told Southern Eye.
“The issue is being handled by the party national leadership.”
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He hinted that the mayor would be chosen from outside the elected councillors.
“Yes, a non-elected councillor might be chosen,” Mwonzora said. “The mayor will be an equivalent of a governor and we need a candidate who will be firm.”
Former city deputy mayor Amen Mpofu recently warned the MDC-T leadership against interfering with the selection process of the city’s mayor, saying such moves would adversely affect the running of the local authority.
Besides Nyathi, MDC-T national chairman Lovemore Moyo, city lawyer Kucaca Phulu, local businessman and farmer Joubert Mangena, businessman Gift Banda and returning councillor Earnest Rafamoyo were tipped to land the post.
