By A Correspondent- The ruling ZANU PF party is targeting making inroads into urban constituencies and consolidating its hold in rural areas in the 26 March by-elections.

In a statement on Monday, ZANU PF political commissar Mike Bimha said the party’s leader, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is expected to launch the party’s by-election campaign this week. Said Bimha:

We note with interest the heightened enthusiasm in the by-elections and the resolve and determination of our members to reassert the power of the ruling party in both urban and rural areas and to consolidate the position of the party in our strongholds.

The by-elections are and should be about the achievements of the Second Republic, not just in launching and driving an agenda for sustainable development, but equally, responding to very specific needs of the people.

ZANU PF is putting faith in the people, the citizens of Zimbabwe to build their own country guided by the policies of the party and government.

We want to win all the constituencies and the entire wards. You don’t go to a battle to lose. We are going into this battle to win.

Our target is to win all the seats in the National Assembly and the local authorities, respectively.

ZANU PF has traditionally been dominant in rural areas while the opposition MDC has been controlling urban seats since the year 2000.

However, by-elections are normally characterised by low voter turnout especially in urban areas and this could work against the country’s main opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), which contested the 2018 elections as the MDC Alliance.