ZIMBABWEAN Alice Mpofu-Coles was elected the mayor of Reading in the United Kingdom at an annual council meeting last week.
She came to Reading in the 1990s as a refugee from her native Zimbabwe. In her acceptance speech, Mpofu-Coles mentioned the adversity she faced in Zimbabwe and the support she was given by the Reading Refugee Support Group.
She said: “I arrived here, to the UK broken, like every refugee here. I lost everything I believed in. I slept on sofas.
“I continued with dignity and went on. “There are so many wars, so many inequalities, so much discrimination. Reading is enriched by the immigrants who are here. Let’s not forget the people who work in the National Health Service, they came to shine when I had aggressive breast cancer.”
Mpofu-Coles published her memoir ‘Dear God from Your Poached Egg Breast’ in 2019, which reflects on her life in Zimbabwe, her battle with cancer and her faith in God.
She was elected as a Labour councillor for Whitley three times in a row in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Mpofu-Coles said: “I thank Almighty God for the grace he has given me in my life.
Thanks to the residents of Reading for voting for me in 2021, ‘22 and ‘23. I’m profoundly grateful to the wider residents of Reading for welcoming me.” Prior to fleeing to Reading, she served as a diplomat in the former Yugoslavia, reflecting on her naivety of bringing high-heeled shoes rather than the boots needed during the Balkan winter.
In closing, Mpofu-Coles said: “I’ll dedicate my time to serving the people diligently at all times.” She was nominated as mayor by councillors Micky Leng and Rachel Eden, her fellow Labour councillors in Whitley.
Paul Gittings, a councillor for more than two decades, was elected as the deputy mayor. The mayor-making ceremony involved the passing of the mayoral chain and garb in private. Mpofu-Coles has two adult children and is married to Wayne Coles. —https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk