SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
The MDC-T’s political misfortunes have continued unabated after losing dismally in three by-elections held on Wednesday. The elections were called when candidates from ZANU PF and the MDC-T were tied on votes during the initial poll on July 31st. In each of the three wards, all the candidates received an equal number of votes. But in the by-elections held on Wednesday ZANU PF crushed the MDC-T in Kusile Rural District Council Ward 5, Ward 4 Kadoma Municipality and Mutasa Rural District Council Ward 30. In Ward 5 in Kusile RDC, ZANU PF candidate Soneni Tshuma polled 646 against the MDC-T’s Ubunene Ncube, who got 221. In Kadoma, Godfrey Mavura of ZANU PF got 523 votes, while Fastmore Mandipota of MDC-T polled 212 and the poor showing by the MDC-T was completed in Mutasa Ward 30, where the party’s candidate, Elias Kembo, polled 399 against ZANU PF’s William Ketero, who got 732 votes. In light of the allegations of the extensive vote rigging during the July 31st election, an analyst said the results from the by-elections may well also have been manipulated to give ZANU PF victory.