Fredrick Moyo
Masvingo- Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and ZANU PF are happy with by-elections results though the elections were generally marred by a massive voter apathy.
ZANU PF retained all the seats and wards they held before in rural areas but however did not manage to win any ward in the urban setup where CCC won all four local authority posts.
Speaking to TellZim News, Zanu PF chairperson for Masvingo province Robson Mavhenyengwa said they are pleased with the results and that they managed to maintain their grip on the rural vote and now need to work on winning urban vote in the 2023 general elections.
“We are happy with the result and also happy that we managed to return all the parliamentary and local authority seats that we had before in rural areas.
“But we actually need to work more hard in urban areas where we did not win any ward and it is work in progress and I hope in the upcoming 2023 general elections, we will win all seats in urban areas,” said Mavhenyengwa.
CCC district chairperson Martin Mureri said they are happy as Masvingo urban to return all the wards that were taken by MDC A President Douglas Monzora due to recalls although they are not happy with the voter turnout.
“We are actually happy with the results. We managed to return all the wards that were taken from us by Mwonzora through recalling our councillors. We are not happy especially with the voter turnout, hopefully when we reach 2023 general elections people will come out in numbers so that we win with a big margin.
CCC Masvingo provincial spokesperson Derick Charamba also said they are happy with the results and that they defeated their opponent with a bigger margin and are now focusing on the wards they did not win during the upcoming general elections in 2023.
“We are actually happy with the win. We defeated Zanu PF with bigger numbers and now we need to work extra hard in the rural areas so that we have numbers there and it is work in progress and hope in 2023 we will win there,” said Charamba.
At stake were two parliamentary seats Mwenezi East and Chivi South and nine local authority wards. Zanu PF won all two parliamentary seats and all five rural wards while CCC won four wards all in Masvingo Urban.