A prominent businessman and lawyer, Masunda was elected unanimously by the Harare council on 2 July 2008 for a five-year term after Emmanuel Chiroto, an MDC member who was previously elected executive mayor by the MDC-majority council on 15 June, voluntarily stood down from the mayoralty and accepted the position of deputy mayor, after allegations that his wife was captured and tortured by Zanu-PF youth.
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Masunda is the first non-MDC member to take office as mayor since before the election of Elias Mudzuri in 2002, and chooses not to be associated with any political party.