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Midlands Correspondent
Zanu-PF has won two council seats previously held by the MDC-T in Redcliff after a by-election at the weekend.
The ruling party continues to assert its dominance over other political parties in the Midlands Province after it pocketed three council seats in the council by-elections conducted in Redcliff and Mberengwa  last Saturday.
In Redcliff, the by-elections were conducted in Wards 5 and 8 following the expulsion of two MDC-T councillors, Onward Mujaji and Takura Chikwira on allegations of nominating and voting for a Zanu-PF mayoral candidate, Councillor Fred Kapuya.

In ward five, Phillip Chuma bagged 631 votes against MDC-T candidate, Rogers Mugadza’s 146 while in ward eight, Zanu-PF candidate, Cde Josephine Mutamangira won by a small margin after polling 121 votes against 118 bagged by her closest rival, Lawrence Majada of MDC-T. National Constitution Assembly’s Ephraim Mufakwadziya got 9 votes.

The revolutionary party now has four council seats in Redcliff out of nine.
In Mberengwa, the by-elections were conducted in ward 26 Chingoma area which was declared vacant following the death of Zanu-PF councillor, Join Chirikure, who died after a short illness.

Happious Shirichena of Zanu-PF garnered 890 votes ahead of MDC-T’s Simbarashe Hove who polled a paltry 107 votes.
Zanu-PF Midlands spokesperson Cornelius Mpereri said the results showed that the party was gaining more ground and had endeared itself among the electorate through its people centred empowerment programmes.

“We are happy that we retained the Mberengwa seat and we also gained two more council seats in Redcliff. This is a clear testimony that Zanu-PF has continued to gain ground and has restored confidence in people.

“We are looking forward to consolidating our dominance in the next elections and we are hopeful that we will emerge victorious,” he said.
The results of the elections were displayed by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) at the respective polling stations.