Decide Nhendo
Masvingo Rural District Council (RDC)’s ward 25 seat has gone to the opposition for the first time since independence, a ward which, in all previous elections was a Zanu PF stronghold.
The ward was won by the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) while the neighboring ward 35 moved from one independent candidate to another.
Zanu PF’s Livison Mudzonga had hopes for a fifth term, having been in council since 2005.
After 2005, Mudzonga went on to take the seat for four consecutive terms went after winning uncontested in 2008 after the creation of ward 35 (Renco Mine) which had proved to be an opposition stronghold and was neutralizing Zanu PF vote.
Mudzonga lost to his predecessor, Zanu PF councilor Tarusenga Mapamba’s namesake and nephew Tarusenga Mapamba of CCC with 67 votes.
Mapamba got 956 votes while Mudzonga had 889 votes which may have been facilitated by the electorate’s need for a new face representing the ward in council.
Ward 35 which is like an island in the middle of ward 25 went to independent candidate Annah Stambuli who defeated Siyai Neshanje who also won as independent in 2018, having been councilor and the people’s favorite since the creation of the ward in 2008.
Stambuli got 833 votes and CCC’s Beauty Ganje followed with 322 votes while Zanu PF’s Magret Shapoyi got 225 and the former councilor got 90 votes.
The two wards fall under former Ministers Edison Zvobgo and Walter Muzembi’s Masvingo South Constituency.
The constituency has proved to be a Zanu PF stronghold and has never been won by any other party since its creation.
