Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart snubbed the 44th Independence Day Celebrations held at White City stadium, yesterday.
Taking to X, Coltart said the office of the Mayor was not invited by the government to attend the event.
Coltart said he expects the office of the Mayor to be respected.
Below is what he said:
I am not attending Independence Day celebrations in@CityofBulawayo today for the reasons set out in the following message sent to Councillors. “Councillors I need to explain my position to you all regarding the Independence Day celebrations today. Whilst a general notice has been sent out to Councillors the office of Mayor has not been invited by Government to attend.
This is a basic courtesy which should be extended to the office, not me personally as such. I have also been advised that in recent years Mayors were snubbed at Independence Day celebrations to such an extent that they no longer attended. Whilst I hope this treatment of Mayors has ended I am not prepared to allow it to happen again. A few weeks ago I was invited to a function – a Business Expo – where the office of Mayor was snubbed by Government at the event.
I registered a protest and left. I am not prepared to allow the office of Mayor be denigrated again. I have made sure that at events I have control over that appropriate Government officials are invited personally and I expect that the office of Mayor will be respected in a similar fashion going forward. I am grateful that you are attending this national celebration and am with you all in spirit. God bless Zimbabwe ”
