Trash, Cash and power : Mayor David Coltart’s fight and Bulawayo’s Autonomy

"Any power that isn't really justified by the will of the governed should be dismantled" ~ Naom Chomski

This blog is intended to teach as much as it is intended to comment on an unfolding political situation. The Citizens Coalition for Change, or should I say, the empty shell that remains of what was a potentially great and promising Opposition party, has reportedly recalled Bulawayo Mayor, David Coltart. If this is successful, and I imagine the greedy and corrupt powers that be intend for it to be, Mr. Coltart, ‘Mlungisi’ , will cease to be the Mayor of Bulawayo. This may not be true, Sengezo Tshabangu’s faction of the party denies the recalls, details are still murky. 

What is David Coltart’s problem? He cannnot be puppeteered, he cannot be bought or bamboozled, he respects the will of the people and the autonomy of Bulawayo, not of wealthy politicians and their predatory oligarchs!

Mayor David Coltart is firmly standing on business. He has strongly resisted attempts by councillors and government to force Bulawayo into an agreement with Geo-Pomona Waste Management – a controversial firm reportedly linked to the first family. Coltart has rejected an autocratic top-down imposition of this deal, siding with resident associations, allowing citizens to weigh in on what they want for their city and giving precedence to council deliberative processes. He argues that the deal would financially bleed Bulawayo just as it is already bleeding Harare, which is bound up in a 30 year contract of paying US$40 000 per day, US$14.6 Million annually. Coltart’s refusal to rubberstamp this oligarchic take over and coercion is mostly likely what triggered these recalls or is most likely to cause him problems as he continues as the mayor. What is a recall? According to the constitution of Zimbabwe under section 278(1) and 129(1)(k), a party reserves the right to unilaterally remove from local government office, a person elected on the party card. A formal notice is sent to the Minister of local government when the member is no longer of the party or  is formally declared so by the party’s leadership. The seat occupied by the recalled member becomes vacant and a tax-payer funded by-election is triggered. In the instance where David Coltart loses his office, even if Ward 4 residents of Bulawayo re-elect him as their councilor, the intense and toxic politics of recalls that have rocked and eroded the opposition, Mr. Coltart may not be re-elected as Mayor. Instead, the City will get a sycophant, a spineless ‘yes-man’ who will subvert the people’s will to please the few and the wealthy! This problem is bigger than Coltart.

Are recalls good for our politics?

“Good” here is understood as the extend to which the will of the people is respected.  Even if this is not true, and David Coltart is not removed from the office he is so well suited for, he constantly lives under the perilous threats of unpredictable party whims. A political sword of Damocles is ready to drop the moment he dares to put the public good above partisan loyalty. This represents everything that is disordered with our politics – our political and legal structures are studded with fault-lines that bolster self-aggrandising and self-serving tyrants and opportunists and punish politicians who genuinely have the people’s interests at heart. For me, recalls represent a cycle that promotes tyranny and dictatorship regardless of the camp, opposition or ruling party. The leader of a party (and a few elites) control who gets to be on the party card for Parliament and Council seats; they can choose who to reward with that privilege. It does not end there, even during tenure in office, party leaders (or the elites) reserve the right to expel from the party and recall from office democratically elected representatives, without involving the people who actually voted for them.  The people are twice removed from critical moments of electoral politics.  (a) They cannot autonomously choose who they want to stand for elections, they can only choose from the choices given by the party (and in most cases the parties rarely allow grassroots competition for the party card)

(b) Citizens are excluded from decisions regarding the continuation or discontinuation of tenure of politicians who represent them outside the election period (after 5 years of during by-elections.)This allows for dictatorial powers to land in the hands of the few (leaders and their factions) who actually control parties.

Essentially politicians have to toe the party line or face an end to their political careers. How is that democratic? Is it a fair trade off between party loyalty and respecting the will of the people? Is the objective, the whole point of politics not to ensure the realisation and implementation of the will of the governed? Are parties turning politics sour and toxic, and anti-people? If anything Coltart’s fight is precisely what the vision of our politics must tend towards. The citizens’ will must never be in the back seat of political and financial decisions whose costs will be borne by the very same citizens. No deal or agreement or proposal must bypass the regular processes of local government, “competitive tendering and public scrutiny.” If any company must win the tender to clean Bulawayo it must be clean, transparent and open to the public, and absolutely respectful of the citizens, at every point. Coltart is the twinkling start in a sea of politics that fattens the politicians and starves the powerless. Sources https://www.veritaszim.net/sites/veritas_d/files/Constitution%20Consolidated%20%282023%29.pdf https://cite.org.zw/bulawayo-residents-reject-government-directive-on-geo-pomona-deal/ https://nehandaradio.com/2025/06/06/mnangagwa-launches-geo-pomona-plant-amidst-deep-corruption-concerns/ https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/ccc-dismisses-coltart-mps-recall-reports/ https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-opinion-sc-columnist-byo-267512.html