#ElectionsZW: Tasara Hungwe wins Zanu PF Mberengwa South primaries

#ElectionsZW: Tasara Hungwe wins Zanu PF Mberengwa South primaries

By Aleck Murimigwa

Flamboyant businessman Tasara Hungwe has won the Zanu PF primary elections in the Mberengwa South constituency held this Friday.

The elections which went peacefully throughout the day were marred by some irregularities as some party members could not find their names in the party’s voters roll.

The missing of party members’ names from the voters’ roll did not only happen in Mberengwa South but in a number of constituencies like Marondera Central where voting was summarily stopped.

Hungwe battled it out with other four contestants, Samson Ncube, Twoboy Shoko, Lackson Shoko, and Sibonginkosi Mpofu.

Hungwe polled 4 066 votes, followed by Samson Ncube who polled 2180.

Twoboy Shoko, the current Public Service Commission manager, came third after polling 1 358.

The total vote cast was 7 841 with 86 spoiled votes.

Mberengwa South fell vacant after the death of Alum Mpofu who succumbed to kidney failure in March last year. He was buried at his rural home at Gwarava.

Hungwe will contest the 26 March by-elections under the Zanu PF ticket in a constituency the opposition has failed to penetrate since its formation.

The Mberengwa South business tycoon whose business outlets sprouted throughout the district had close ties with the late Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo and the late MP Mpofu.

Hungwe was last month elevated into the Zanu PF Midlands provincial executive structures something that boosted his contest in the primary elections. 

Mberengwa South constituency falls under the Midlands Province touted as President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s home.

Political watchers are of the view that the by-elections will give the country a picture on how the 2023 general elections will be like.

Elections in Zimbabwe have often been violent, with thousands of people falling victim to factional and inter-party violence. The polls will also help measure the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s preparedness for elections.

#ElectionsZW: Tasara Hungwe wins Zanu PF Mberengwa South primaries