…clarifies relationship with Mwonzora
Courage Dutiro
The outgoing Masvingo City Mayor councilor Collen Maboke who was disqualified during the early stages of the Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) candidate selection process officially filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate for Masvingo Urban parliamentary seat.
The 41-year-old Maboke will be squaring it off with CCC’s Martin Mureri (46), Zanu PF’s Wellington Mahwende (53), Bonface Mazarire of MDC-T (57) and Muneri Muneri Smart (52) of United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA)
In 2018 Maboke fell out with CCC leader Nelson Chamisa after he defied the then MDC-Alliance party order to support Godfrey Kurauone as the council mayor. Maboke went on to contest the position and won with seven votes against Kurauone’s three.
Efforts by Chamisa to force Maboke to step down as mayor were futile as Maboke remained defiant and to add more to the beef between the two, Maboke was not recalled by Douglas Mwonzora’s MDC Alliance which resulted in many concluding that he was loyal to Mwonzora not Chamisa.
Addressing a press conference at his offices in town hours after filling his nomination papers, Maboke said he did not received any communication concerning his disqualification from the CCC race and had been encouraged by citizens to go sole in the August 23, 2023, harmonized elections.
“I did not receive any formal communication from the party advising me why I was disqualified and even the way forward. I then had to go back to the people who advised me to stand as an independent candidate and they have promised to stand with me as an independent candidate for Masvingo Urban seat,” said Maboke.
He also said the decision to go independent came after he had nowhere to appeal his case as the party is structure-less and does not have any constitution.
“CCC has no structures nor constitution so there was nowhere to appeal my case to, I then had to appeal to people who voted me and nominated me who assured me that they will support me” he said.
Maboke was among the few main opposition councilors who survived Douglas Mwonzora’s axe during his recalling spree which saw 4 fellow Masvingo urban councillors facing the chop.
Clarifying how he survived Mwonzora’s recalls, Maboke who has been labeled by some as an MDC-T member said he had a cordial relationship with the MDC-T leader whom he had worked for after he graduated from the law school.
“After I graduated from University Douglas Mwonzara was my first employer. I worked for him for five years before we parted ways without any problems and started my law firm. We had a good working relationship with him so maybe that is the reason why I was not recalled by him,” he said.
He however said he never attended any MDC meeting but was in all CCC programmes meaning that his loyalty was with CCC not MDC.
Maboke also said he was not rallying behind any presidential candidate and will not tell his supporters which Presidential candidate to vote for.
“I am not going to campaign for any Presidential candidate; people know their ideal candidate and they are the ones to decide who will lead Zimbabwe in the next five years,”
Maboke said he was confident that he will win the election since he did a lot during his tenure as Mayor and said people will not forget his contributions.
“People know what I did as a mayor and will definitely vote for me so that I further the developments I did at council like the construction of Rujeko Secondary school to mention just a few,” said Maboke.
Maboke will battle it out with his deputy Wellington Mahwende of Zanu PF, Boniface Mazarire of MDC-T, Smart Muneri Muneri of UZA.
