Jane Mlambo| Following the proclamation of the 3rd of August 2019 by President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the date for the Lupane East by-election, unconfirmed reports from both Zanu PF and opposition MDC have it that two Professors Mthuli Ncube and Welshman Ncube will square off to fill the post left vacant following the death of Sithembile Gumbo in April this year.

Professor Mthuli Ncube joined government as one of the technocrats brought by Mnangagwa and had not been involved in politics raising questions if Zanu PF rules will have to be bent to accommodate him to contest without serving the in the revolutionary party.

On the other hand, Professor Welshman Ncube has been actively involved in the politics of Zimbabwe and is a founder member of the opposition MDC which he left in 2005 following disagreements with the late leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

He returned back to the main MDC first as part of the MDC Alliance before his readmission and re-appointment as the Vice President.

Should both Ncube’s contest in the by-election, it would be an interesting by-election whose stakes would be high for Zimbabwean politics.

More to follow…