Fredrick Moyo
The recently-held House of Assembly and local authority by-elections in two constituencies and nine wards respectively were marred by evident voter apathy indicated by the poor turnout in most areas.
The number of the people who turned out to vote in the much-awaited by-elections was way below the total numbers of registered voters in respective constituencies and wards.
However three wards namely Bikita RDC ward 29, Chivi RDC ward 8 and Chiredzi ward 9 witnessed an improved turnout of voters as they managed to pass the 50 percent mark on poll percentage.
Statistics released by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) provincial office on March 28 2022, revealed that voters were hesitant to fully participate in the exercise.
TellZim News took a look at the House of Assembly figures and presented them as follows:
Chivi South Constituency (37.1 percent)
ZANU PF maintained their dominance in rural areas as Munyaradzi Zizhou won the Chivi South House of Assembly seat. However the voter turnout in the constituency was not pleasing as it recorded a percentage less than half of the voter population. Only 8 843 people went to cast their votes out of a voter population of 23 873 resulting in 37.1 percent voter turnout.
Mwenezi East Constituency (43.1 percent)
ZANU PF candidate Master Makope won the Mwenezi East House of Assembly seat. The constituency has a voter population of 32 944 people, but only 14 191 people casted their votes during the by-elections hence accruing a voter turnout of 43.1 percentage.
Local Authority figures are as follows:
Bikita Rural District Council (RDC) Ward 21 (65.8 percent)
Court Zevezayi of ZANU PF won the local authority post in Bikita RDC Ward 21. The ward saw more than half of its voter population turning out to cast their vote. A total number of 1 017 people casted their votes out of a voter population of 1 546 hence accruing 65.3 percent voter turnout.
Chivi RDC Ward 8 (53.9 percent)
Chivi RDC is the second ward that accumulated more than half poll percentage with a total number of 962 casted votes out of a voter population of 1 785 signifying 53.9 percent voter turnout.
Chiredzi RDC Ward 9 (58.0 percent)
Chiredzi RDC Ward 9 is also another ward that also managed a better turnout as more than half of the ward’s population turned out to cast their votes during the by-election. 1 017 people casted their votes out of a population of 1 752 hence the ward had a voter turnout of 58.0 percent.
Chiredzi RDC Ward 16 (43.5 percent)
Nevias Chisasa of ZANU PF won the local seat in Chiredzi RDC. The ward claimed a total number of 3 640 votes casted out of a voter population of 8 361 and accruing a voter turnout of 43.5 percent.
Masvingo Municipal Ward 3 (26.8 percent)
Masvingo Municipal ward 3 got the lowest voter turnout in all urban wards as only 1 790 people casted their votes out of a voter population of 6 684 hence accumulating 26.8 percent voter turnout.
Masvingo Municipal Ward 4 (28.4 percent)
The most controversial ward where Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) fielded double candidates also accumulated low voter turnout as only 1 447 people casted their votes out of a voter population of 5 101 people hence the 28.4 percent voter turnout.
Masvingo Municipal Ward 5 (26.3 percent)
The ward that was won by CCC’s Daniel Mberikunashe boasts of a voter population of 3 651 but only 961 casted their votes hence the figures represent a total percentage of 26.3 voter turnout.
Masvingo Municipal Ward 7 (24.8 percent)
Recalled councillor Richard Musekiwa of CCC won the local authority ward 7 but the ward as well saw a low turnout in voter population with only 1 922 casting their votes out of a voter population of 7 732 hence accumulating 24.8 percent in voter turnout.
The ruling party ZANU PF maintained dominance in rural areas while the main opposition CCC won all urban wards. At steak were two House of Assembly seats in which ZANU PF won all while there were also nine local authority seats in the province and ZANU PF won five rural and CCC won 4 urban local authority wards.
