Councillor Lovemore Maiko of Ward 7 was re-elected as the Mayor of Chitungwiza town in Zimbabwe on September 18, 2023. Alongside him, Councillor Jerita Mutingwende from Ward 12, both representing the CCC party, was chosen as the Deputy Mayoress. Maiko secured 31 votes in the election, surpassing Leah Chidamba of the ruling ZANU PF who received only two votes.
The election process was overseen by Mr. Tafadzwa Muguti, the Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution. Speaking after the election, Muguti said:
I expect councillors to support, respect and work hand-in-hand with the mayor and deputy. I also ask for discernment and being able to understand that the moment you are elected, you’re not a political appointee, but a full government official. We take our politics, be it Zanu PF or CCC, to our party offices. The moment we come here, residents expect to see city fathers and mothers who are going to help and lead them.
During his acceptance speech, Mayor Maiko expressed his commitment to prioritise the well-being of the residents. He acknowledged the responsibility and leadership required to provide reliable and quality service to the municipality’s residents, emphasising his dedication to fulfilling this duty. He said:
I accept this with a huge sense of responsibility and the agency of leadership in delivering quality service to the residents of our municipality reliably. Councillors are residents first before they are aldermen, and collectively we shall remain conscious of this and plan, implement and evaluate within the framework of this position.
Maiko was first elected Mayor in 2018, but in March 2022 was recalled by the opposition MDC-T, led by Douglas Mwonzora. He is one of dozens of councillors and legislators who were recalled by the MDC-T since the 2020 Supreme Court ruling on the MDC leadership crisis.
In Chitungwiza, there are a total of 33 Councillors. Among them, 25 were elected as Ward councillors, while the remaining 8 were selected through proportional representation. ZANU PF has three councillors representing them in the municipality.