BY LLOYD MWALE
The opposition MDC Alliance has retained the Chegutu ward 2 municipal seat after trouncing Zanu PF in a by-election held over the weekend.
Rydes Machekera (MDC Alliance) polled 240 votes while Zanu PF candidate Prosper Mutongerwa garnered 184 votes.
Machekera thanked the electorate for putting their faith in him and the opposition party.
“I would like to thank the ward 2 electorate for bestowing their faith in me and the party led by Nelson Chamisa. I promise to work hard to give the residents the much-needed service delivery in Chegutu and also to continue where the late MDC Alliance councillor Memory Banda left. We won freely, but the only one moment of madness was when Zanu PF provincial chairman Ziyambi Ziyambi tried their shenanigans at the polling station, but we were prepared and we chased him away from the polling station. Besides that, otherwise the election was peaceful,” Machekera said.
Banda, who was Chegutu ward 2 councillor since 2013, died in December last year.
Mutongerwa’s chief election agent, Elijah Jabangwe conceded defeat, blaming it on low voter turnout.
