By Anotida Magaisa| Barely four months since the last round of by-elections in Chipinge, residents of ward 16 in the district will be voting to elect a new councilor after opposition MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora wielded the axe on Rapheas Sithole.

The nomination court which sat in Chipinge on the 10th of June 2022 approved four candidates namely Gladys Muposhi of Zanu PF, Remeredzai Ziki of the Professor Lovemore Madhuku led National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) as well as Zachariah Sithole of Patriotic Zimbabwe and Rapheaus Sithole who was recalled and now representing the Citizens Coalition of Zimbabwe.

In its recall letter, MDC-T alleged that Sithole was no longer a member of the party that romped him to victory in 2018.

A Manicaland based group, Platform for Youth and Community Development Trust (PYCD) has expressed concern that these by- elections are the inadequacies of the country’s electoral laws which takes away power from the voter to promote selfish interests of party leaders who are allowed to recall elected leaders willy-nilly.

” We notice that political activities in Chipinge are escalating in preparation for 2023 harmonised elections.The by-election in Chipinge allows us within the civic society to test the relationship between candidates and election manifestos. There are serious land conflicts in Chipinge which are suppossed to be election issues. In ward 16 there is a land conflict in Maronga pitting villagers with the empire of Noah Taguta and in Kondo pitting villagers with land barons hiding behind Chipinge RDC” said PYCD leader Claris Madhuku.

In the last by-elections in Chipinge, the ruling Zanu PF snatched one seat from the opposition.