The Sunday News
Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
LOSING candidates in the Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe by-election graciously accepted defeat, conceding that the elections were free and fair. Mr Munashe Mutodza of Professor Lovemore Madhuku’s National Constitutional Assembly appreciated that Zanu-PF had covered enough ground and had gained popularity in the area.
In an interview soon after Zanu-PF candidate Cde Auxilia Mnangagwa was declared the winner of the by-election by Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe constituency election officer Mr Joshua Mhino, at the command centre in Mvuma yesterday, Mr Mutodza said there was a need for his party to up its game come 2018 harmonised elections.
“We are facing many challenges as a party but the main objective for participating in this election was for people to know that we exist. We failed to field our polling agents at most of the polling stations but that did not compromise the results. I think the elections were free and fair,” he said.
Chirumhanzu South Member of Parliament, Cde Innocent Pedzisai Munanzvi said Zanu-PF had consolidated its dominance in the province after Cde Mnangagwa won resoundingly.
He said he was confident that Cde Mnangagwa would transform the lives of the people of Chirumhanzu for the better.
“We are happy that Cde Mnangagwa won the Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe parliamentary seat. We hope that we are going to continue working together like what we have been doing with her predecessor and husband, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
She has done a lot for the people of Chirumhanzu while VP Mnangagwa was still MP for this constituency. I have no doubt that she is going to do more than what she has been doing now that she is the MP. There was no better candidate,” he said.
Meanwhile, the officer commanding police operations, Assistant Commissioner Musarashana Mabunda said the elections were peaceful.
He said there were no reported incidents of violence or voter intimidation during the voting process.
“The Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe parliamentary by-elections went on smoothly. There were no incidents that warranted police attention. All ballot papers were accounted for and there were no reports of violence or missing material,” he said.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission provincial electoral officer Ms Dorcas Mpofu concurred with Asst Comm Mabunda that the elections went on smoothly and all the material required for the voting process was distributed to all the 85 polling stations throughout the constituency.
“All the 85 polling stations were adequately manned by over 420 polling officers and ward election officers. There were no incidents of violence, the elections were peaceful,” she said.
