HARARE – Harare mayor Jacob Mafume was arrested on Wednesday accused of criminal abuse of office over the allocation of housing stands, his lawyer said.
His party said it was “yet another case of persecution and weaponisation of the law against MDC Alliance members.”
Lawyer Tonderai Bhatasara told ZimLive: “The charge is criminal abuse of office arising from the allocation of housing stands in Westlea in March 2020. The charges are denied.”
Mafume, the Ward 17 councillor in Harare covering the Mt Pleasant area, was elected mayor in September after a faction of the MDC backed by Zanu PF recalled former mayor Herbert Gomba and over a dozen other councillors.
He narrowly beat the candidate of the MDC-T party, who was being supported by Zanu PF – but the fight for the control of the capital has not abetted, amid reports that Zanu PF is angling to replace the MDC Alliance council with a commission.
Earlier this month, anti-corruption police arrested 21 councillors during a full council meeting on corruption charges. Mafume was not among them.
The MDC Alliance said in a statement: “We know that his real offence was winning the mayoral vote for the MDC Alliance. The toxic politics of Zanu PF is aimed at persecuting those who openly display allegiance with President Nelson Chamisa. They want to remove him and replace him with a Zanu PF proxy.”
Mafume is expected to appear in court on Thursday.
