Pro-Tsvangirai Bulawayo mayor Martin Moyo faces the axe

BULAWAYO City Council mayor Martin Moyo and his deputy Gift Banda might lose their jobs if the plot by MDC Renewal Team councillors to oust them succeeds.

Moyo, Banda and committee chairpersons recently survived a coup attempt during an ill-tempted full council meeting on Wednesday after a group of councillors linked to MDC-Renewal pushed for their ouster.

The 29-member council is now evenly divided with MDC-T now having 15 councillors, while splinter group, MDC-Renewal has 14 members.

Sources within council said MDC-Renewal councillors were confident they had garnered enough councillors to influence the change of committee chairpersons and later on the mayor and his deputy.

Councillor Sithabile Mataka-Moyo, who is linked to MDC-Renewal, moved a motion to change council committees, including chairpersons of committees, the deputy mayor and the mayor in line with the Urban Councils Act.

"I have found it to be fair that council committees should change, so that all councillors of the city could be afforded an opportunity to know how council operates through its committees," she wrote.

"As a ward councillor, one is not restricted to one or two fields, but to all departments. So by changing committees, we will be getting exposure to all departments of council and that gives us experience.

"There are so many other benefits that go with the changing of committees, as was indicated by other councillors, which I really consider to be important."

According to the Urban Councils Act Section 103, committee chairpersons are rotated on an annual basis in August, but this has not happened at the Bulawayo City Council since 2009. In July, a motion to continue with the current status quo was passed.

Councillors declined to change the committees on the basis that change was disruptive and may affect service delivery.

That was before MDC-Renewal had gained inroads within council.

Two MDC-Renewal deputy committee chairpersons said they were tired of their positions and needed change.

The plot to oust Moyo and Banda has been brewing since February and the Press revealed at the time that about 18 out of the 29 councillors had been mobilized to pass a vote of no confidence against the two.

This was despite warnings that the plot could backfire, as Moyo and Banda's ouster could present Local Government minister, Ignatius Chombo with a perfect opportunity to set up a commission to run the affairs of the city.