Kwekwe mayor orders residents to put on red attire

Kwekwe residents have blasted city mayor Councillor Angeline Kasipo for sowing seeds of division among residents after recently ordering people who attended her victory celebrations to put on red attire.

Cllr Kasipo won Kwekwe's Ward 10 council elections under the MDC-Alliance ticket in the July harmonised election before she was later elected as the city's first female mayor.

Cllr Kasipo organised ward victory celebrations at the weekend and people wishing to attend the celebrations were forced to put on red attire. Kwekwe residents, however, condemned the move saying Cllr Kasipo was supposed to be a unifying mother instead of being divisive.

"When we heard of the celebrations, and wanted to go and celebrate with her the elevation of women to the position of mayor, a first of its kind in Kwekwe if not the country as a whole. Some of us voted for Cllr Kasipo not because we are MDC-Alliance we only wanted to support a woman candidate as fellow women, but when they demand that we should wear red attire for the victory celebrations, we thought it was becoming too political, so we did not attend," said Mrs Moleen Zhou, a resident.

Another resident, Mr Japheth Sango, said as the mayor, Cllr Kasipo was supposed be a unifying force rather than choosing residents along party lines.

"She is everyone's mayor, so when organising such functions, it must not be a party function, and it must be a function for the residents of Kwekwe.

"Some of us we voted her into office, but we do not belong to MDC.

"We wanted to celebrate her achievement, but they then set conditions for those intending to attend, which was very unfortunate. Cllr Kasipo declined to comment over the matter yesterday.