Mayor of Mutare

The Mayor of Mutare is the executive of the government of Mutare, Zimbabwe (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".^[1] The current mayor is Simon Chabuka.^[2]

Mayor of Mutare
Incumbent Simon Chabuka since 28 November 2023
Style	His Worship
Inaugural holder	G. F. Dawson
Formation	1914; 111 years ago (1914)
Website	Official webpage

History

The Town of Umtali became a municipality, in the form of a town, on 11 June 1914.^[3] 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.^[3]

In 1980, following Zimbabwe's independence, Davidson Jahwi was elected the first black Mayor of Umtali.^[1]

Umtali's name was changed to Mutare in 1983.

In 2005, Mayor Misheck Kagurabadza (MDC–T) was suspended from his position by the Minister of Local Government, Ignatius Chombo.^[4] Mutare, along with other major cities that had seen their democratically elected MDC–T mayors suspended, was governed by a ZANU–PF-dominated special commission until 2008.^[4]

In 2008, Brian James, a white MDC–T member, was elected mayor.^[5] He was suspended and then fired in 2008 by Ignatius Chombo, who accused James of mismanagement, misconduct, and insubordination.^[6] However, the firing was, in reality, thought to be politically motivated.^[6]

List of mayors

The following is a list of past mayors of Mutare (previously known as Umtali until 1983).

Mayor	Term start	Term end		Party	Ref.
G. F. Dawson	1914	1916			[1]
W. J. Hosgood	1916	1917			[1]
G. F. Dawson	1917	1918			[1]
Charles Eickhoff	1918	1920		RGA	[1]
Jack Meikle	1920	1921			[1]
W. J. McIntosh	1921	1922			[1]
Jack Meikle	1922	1923			[1]
W. Stevens	1923	1925			[1]
J. H. Jeffreys	1925	1926			[1]
Frederick J. Taylor	1926	1927			[1]
W. J. McIntosh	1927	1928			[1]
L. Miller	1928	1929			[1]
Oswald Trevor Baker	1929	1932		Rhodesia Party	[1]
JT Woods	1932	1934			[1]
Alfred Bain	1934	1938			[1]
George Washington Chace	1938	1941		Liberal Party	[1]
W. R. Love	1941	1942			[1]
Edward King Evans	1942	1945			[1]
Demetrius Catsicas	1945	1948			[1]
R. T. Perkins	1948	1949			[1]
Saxon W. Wood	1949	1952			[1]
Harry Went	1952	1953			[1]
Johannes Mattheus Wessels	1953	1955			[1]
Norman Innes	1955	1957			[1]
Demetrius Catsicas	1957	1958			[1]
George Robert Leach	1958	1959			[1]
Jack Mussett	1959	1961			[1]
Leslie Herbert Morris	1961	1964		United Federal Party	[1]
James W. MacGregor	1964	1966			[1]
W. W. S. Smart	1966	1968			[1]
James Somerville Murray	1968	1969			[1]
John Constantinos Kircos	1969	1972			[1]
Douglas G. Reed	1972	1975			[1]
John Charles Burke	August 1975	August 1977			[1][7]
Douglas G. Reed	1977	1978			[1]
Max Phillips	1978	1980			[1][8]
Davidson Jahwi	November 1980	24 January 1984		ZANU–PF	[1][9][10]
Enock Msabaeka	1984	1991
Lawrence Mudehwe	October 1990	August 2003		ZANU–PF (before 1995)	[11]
				Independent (1995–1999)
				MDC–T (after 1999)
Misheck Kagurabadza	2003	23 July 2005		MDC–T	[12]
Mayor suspended; Mutare administered by a special commission[13]
Brian James	2008	April 2013		MDC–T	[5][6]
Tatenda Nhamarare	September 2013	September 2018		MDC–T	[14]
Blessing Tandi	6 September 2018	11 February 2022		MDC Alliance	[15][16][17]
Simon Chabuka	17 February 2022	August 2023		CCC	[16][17][2]
Sophia Rudo Gwasira	11 September 2023	9 November 2023		CCC	[18][19]
Simon Chabuka	28 November 2023			CCC	[2]

Deputy mayors

Notable former deputy mayors

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