Patience Muzhingi
ZVISHAVANE – There is a subdued mood in Zvishavane following the announcement of the election results that have seen the opposition MDC Alliance, which carried the hopes of many people, failing to get any parliamentary seat in the district and surrounding areas.
In Zvishavane, as in almost the whole country, real competition seemed to be between MDC Alliance and the ruling Zanu PF party despite the presence of over twenty presidential candidates and over fifty political parties in the harmonised elections.
Zvishavane town, which hosted a big alliance rally just before the elections, is noticeably downcast, with many people saying they did not know what went wrong.
Before the elections, MDC Alliance supporters were overexcited by the prospect of victory, with many betting on social media that their presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa would get 61.8 percent of the vote.
“We are gutted. How can this really be? We worked hard to convince the people that ours were the best parliamentary candidates and that Chamisa was the best person for President. These results are not unquestionable,” said one supporter from Mberengwa.
Another one said they will now wait for Chamisa’s leadership on the way forward as well as the results of his legal challenge of the presidential election results.
“We will patiently wait Chamisa’s direction. We believe in the whole MDC Alliance’s leadership and we will do as they tell us to do,” said the supporter who stays in Maglas.
Zanu PF prevailed in both constituencies in the district; Zvishavane-Runde and Zvishavane-Ngezi, but no serious celebrations had happened by the time of writing.
The current mood now leaves a question of whether the majority of Zvishavane residents are shocked MDC Alliance supporters or are Zanu PF supporters rejoicing silently.local
