by Municipal correspondent

The opposition MDC-Alliance Deputy Secretary for Local Government and Mt Pleasant ward 17 councillor, Jacob Mafume has expressed interest in becoming the Mayor of Harare following the recall of Herbert Gomba, Harare Post can reveal.

Gomba, who is facing allegations of illicit land deals was arrested on 23 July, this year and subsequently recalled by the opposition MDC-T party, which accused him of failing to respect the party`s leadership.

According to contact, Mafume argued that he was the best candidate for the job since MDC-T cannot recall him because he belonged to the People`s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014.

He is reported to have argued that National Executive Committee member, Ian Makone, who is also interested in the council top job, could be recalled anytime.

The contact said Mafume was to approach Makone for him to step down and pave way for him. He added that Mafume was also going to approach 12 other councillors who are backing MDC-T ward 25 councillor Luckson, to support him.

He said Mafume had mobilised a substantial amount of money to solicit support from MDC-T-aligned councillors.

Political analysts have said that Mafume was likely to lose the bid to Makone, a Nelson Chamisa loyalist. Mafume is aligned to the MDC-Alliance Vice President, Tendai Biti who is an arch rival of Chamisa.

The urbanites have endured persistent poor service delivery ever since the MDC councillors took control of the cities in 2000.The poor service delivery includes; pothole riddled roads, inadequate potable water supply, uncollected waste and frequent sewer pipe bursts.

Residents are imploring Government to set up a Commission to run the affairs of the capital city. They say the Commission should be comprised of technocrats capable of rescuing the city from the current doldrums.