The Mayor of Mutare is the executive of the government of

Mutare Mutare (formerly Umtali) is the most populous city in the province of Manicaland, and the third most populous city in Zimbabwe, having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 and approximately 260,567 ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

(known as Umtali until 1983). The Mayor is a member of the Mutare City Council, and is assisted by a deputy mayor. The Mayor uses the style "

His Worship Worship is an honorific prefix for mayors, Justice of the Peace, justices of the peace and magistrates in present or former Commonwealth realms. In spoken address, these officials are addressed as Your Worship or referred to as His Worship, Her Wor ...

". The current mayor is

Simon Chabuka Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

History

The Town of Umtali became a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, in the form of a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

, on 11 June 1914. Its first mayor, elected in August 1914, was G. F. Dawson. The mayor and new municipal council replaced the Sanitary Board which had previously governed the settlement. In 1980, following

's independence,

Davidson Jahwi Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

was elected the first black Mayor of Umtali. Umtali's name was changed to Mutare in 1983. In 2005, Mayor

Misheck Kagurabadza Misheck Kagurabadza was a businessman and former mayor of Mutare, Zimbabwe, and was the MDC-Tsvangirai member of the house of assembly (MP) for the parliamentary constituency of Mutasa South Mutasa South is a constituency of the National Assembl ...

( MDC–T) was suspended from his position by the Minister of Local Government,

Ignatius Chombo Ignatius Morgen Chiminya Chombo (born 1 August 1952) is a Zimbabwean politician who was Finance Minister of Zimbabwe in 2017. Previously he has served in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe as Minister of Home Affairs from 2015 to 2017, Minister of Local G ...

. Mutare, along with other major cities that had seen their democratically elected MDC–T mayors suspended, was governed by a

ZANU–PF The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) is a political organisation which has been the ruling party of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party was led for many years under Robert Mugabe, first as prime ministe ...

-dominated special commission until 2008. In 2008, Brian James, a white MDC–T member, was elected mayor. He was suspended and then fired in 2008 by Ignatius Chombo, who accused James of mismanagement, misconduct, and insubordination. However, the firing was, in reality, thought to be politically motivated.

Deputy mayors

Notable former deputy mayors

* Leslie Herbert Morris, future mayor * John Constantinos Kircos, future mayor * E. M. Phillips, future mayor

List of mayors

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Southern Rhodesia Liberal Party The Southern Rhodesian Liberal Party was a political party in Southern Rhodesia, founded in 1943 by Jacob Smit (1881–1959), the former United Party (UP) Minister of Finance. It is thought that Smit split from the UP largely because Prime Minis ...

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Lawrence Mudehwe Alderman Lawrence Dambudzo Mudehwe (26 July 1933 – 10 August 2022) was a former mayor of Mutare Mutare (formerly Umtali) is the most populous city in the province of Manicaland, and the third most populous city in Zimbabwe, having surpas ...

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, 2003 , data-sort-value="2005" , 23 July 2005 , bgcolor="" , , MDC–T , , - , colspan="6" , ''Mayor suspended; Mutare administered by a special commission'' , - , , 2008 , data-sort-value="2013" , April 2013 , bgcolor="" , , MDC–T , , - , Tatenda Nhamarare , data-sort-value="2013" , September 2013 , ''Incumbent'' , bgcolor="" , , MDC–T , {{Cite news, url=https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2013/09/17/nhamarare-elected-mutare-mayor, title=Nhamarare elected Mutare mayor, last=Chiketo, first=Bernard, date=2013-09-17, work=DailyNews Live, access-date=2017-12-04

References

Mutare Lists of political office-holders in Zimbabwe Mayors of places in Zimbabwe