By Brighton Chiseva
MASVINGO – Masvingo Mayor Councillor Alec Tabe has been added to a growing list of Masvingo City councillors facing imminent recall, in a dramatic escalation of the internal purge within the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), TellZim News can reveal.
The move, however, is shrouded in controversy, with some allegations appearing inconsistent and politically motivated and now threatens to severely undermine service delivery for Masvingo residents.
This development comes after TellZim News recently reported that three Masvingo CCC councillors Esther Zishiri, Alaica Time, and Bernad Muchokwa were facing recall over accusations of supporting an independent candidate linked to former opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.
The initial recall letter was dated September 4 and addressed to the Town Cleck and signed by Rocky Kamuzonda who referred to himself as the CCC Interim Secretary General Masvingo Province.
The three were accused of breaching the party’s electoral code of conduct by campaigning for an independent candidate in the ward 7 by elections.
“This conduct directly contravene section 67 of the constitution of Zimbabwe which outlines political Rights and the principal’s (sic) they are expected to uphold the highest standard of integrity and impartiality.
“We have received many compliment (sic) from Rujeko and Masvingo residents. As a part (sic) we request immediate action. Remove the aforementioned officials from their position, citing their breach of Electoral Conduct. We are writing to you to withdraw them from their position,” read part of the letter.
However, highly placed sources within the CCC confirmed that Mayor Tabe had been included in the recall list, which originates from the camp of Sengezo Tshabangu, the controversial interim CCC secretary-general who asserted control over the party’s structures.
“Kamuzonda wrote the letter to Masvingo City Council deliberately without Tabe’s name but on the report he sent to Tshabangu, he included his name. So Tshabangu and team are coming to investigate the allegations,” said a source.
The four councilors are accused of defying party directives by allegedly campaigning for Struggle Nyahunda, an independent candidate in the upcoming Ward 7 by-election. Nyahunda is widely perceived to be aligned with Chamisa, who resigned from active politics earlier this year.
However, the allegations against Muchokwa have raised eyebrows, as multiple sources confirm he had been openly hostile towards Nyahunda. Of all the 11 opposition councilors, Muchokwa is the only one who was not supporting Nyahunda. Their rivalry stems from Nyahunda’s alliance with Thomas Mbetu, who challenged Muchokwa in the fiercely contested 2023 primary elections.
“The claim that Muchokwa supports Nyahunda is laughable to anyone who knows local politics. They are rivals, not allies. If anything, Muchokwa is being targeted for being one of the most vocal councilors who consistently posted and praised Nelson Chamisa. All the other 10 councilors openly supported Nyahunda so we wonder why they only chose those 4 leaving all the others,” a party insider revealed.
Other sources suggest that there was a more sinister motive behind Muchokwa’s recall that is to facilitate the return of former Ward Councillor Against Chiteme of ZANU-PF, a known close ally of controversial businessman Wicknell Chivhayo.
This theory gains credibility given ZANU-PF’s recent landslide victory in Masvingo Urban’s Ward 7 by-election, where their candidate won with more votes than the other four candidates combined.
Contacted for comment, Mayor Tabe said he was not aware of such a development and would revert if he gets any communication.
“I am not aware of any such meeting or recall threat. No one has informed me of the meeting or the recall,” said Tabe.
Should the recalls proceed, the impact on Masvingo residents could be catastrophic. Zishiri and Time, both proportional representation councilors, had finally mastered the art of council debate and procedure after nearly two years in office and were beginning to contribute meaningfully to council discussions and oversight.
The loss of Mayor Tabe, an experienced administrator familiar with the complexities of urban governance, would deal an even heavier blow to the city’s stability and development momentum.
The move against Tabe marks a significant escalation in the ongoing factional battles within the CCC. As the most high-profile local government figure in the province, his targeting suggests the purge is intensifying, blending genuine factional discipline with what critics call political victimization and external manipulation.
Sources further revealed that a replacement lineup has already been prepared, with Kamuzonda, former Ward 3, allegedly positioning his wife and former ward 3 aspiring candidate Linnet Tendai Sibanda to take over from either proportional representation councilors Zishiri or Time.
The situation underscores the chaotic nature of Zimbabwean opposition politics, where recalls have become a common tool for factional leaders to purge dissenting voices. The Zimbabwean constitution permits political parties to recall elected officials, but this power rests solely with parties, not the electorate, raising concerns about the undermining of democratic processes and now, critically, the continuity of essential public services.
This expanding recall has sparked fears about the erosion of elected officials’ autonomy and the stifling of democracy, where allegiance to a faction is prioritized over service delivery and constituency representation. The ongoing power struggle in Masvingo represents a microcosm of the broader battle for control within the CCC, threatening to further weaken the opposition’s presence in local governance at the direct expense of Masvingo residents.
