Elias Mudzuri

Who is Elias Mudzuri?

Elias Mudzuri is a Zimbabwean engineer and politician. Mudzuri was elected to a four-year term as Mayor of Harare, a city of 1.8 million, in March 2002. Trained in Sierre Leone as a civil engineer, the mayor is a Fellow of the Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers. Before becoming mayor, he had worked in local government for fourteen years. He is married to Jabu Mudzuri, a Swazi national, and the couple have five children. Mr. Mudzuri was a Mason Fellow in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and also holds Masters in Public Administration from the University.

Mudzuri is a member of the Movement for Democratic Change, the opposition party led by Morgan Tsvangirai. His election as mayor came about after Harare's citizens sued the national government for autonomous elections, required by the nation's constitution but never held. From 1999 forward, President Mugabe had appointed ministers of the national government to run local government in Harare, which was illegal under the constitution.