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Morgan Tsvangirai

George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
MDC-T has virtually surrendered constituencies in Mwenezi and Chiredzi to zanu-pf ahead of next year’s elections, with party leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai admitting that his party has failed to make inroads there. Chiredzi and Mwenezi have five constituencies, all of which have remained elusive to MDC-T. Addressing an MDC-T provincial assembly meeting here at the weekend, Mr Tsvangirai admitted that his party would always play second fiddle to zanu-pf during elections in Mwenezi and Chiredzi.

Said MDC-T Masvingo provincial chairperson Mr James Gumbi: “From what he told the meeting, I think it was a direct acceptance by the president that zanu-pf is stronger in those areas (Mwenezi and Chiredzi). I think we must accept reality that there are some areas where we are not very strong as a party.”

Mr Gumbi said MDC-T would however, still field candidates in the two districts.

“If our partners in the mooted MDC Alliance are not allocated to contest those seats, then we as MDC-T will field candidates because the votes we will get have a bearing on seats in the Senate and proportional representation for women,” he said.

Inside sources who attended the meeting said Mr Tsvangirai directed party members and the Masvingo leadership to put more focus in areas where the opposition party stood better chances of winning.

Mr Tsvangirai openly conceded that his party would never upstage Zanu-PF in Mwenezi and Chiredzi.

“The president (Mr Tsvangirai) told the Masvingo provincial assembly meeting that it was an open secret that his party had failed to penetrate Mwenezi and Chiredzi, which are Zanu-PF strongholds,” sources said.

“He literally surrendered the two districts to Zanu-PF ahead of next year’s elections, saying we should not concentrate on those areas because Zanu-PF will always win in any election.”

Since its formation, MDC-T has struggled to make inroads into Mwenezi and Chiredzi, where the majority of people have continued to snub the opposition party after benefiting from Zanu-PF Government’s empowerment programmes.

Zanu-PF controls all the five parliamentary seats in Mwenezi and Chiredzi and indications are that the ruling party will retain all the seats in next year’s polls, as opposition parties’ structures, including those of the MDC-T, are either non-existent or have virtually collapsed.

Zanu-PF reasserted its political dominance in Masvingo after the ruling party swept all the 26 National Assembly since in the province in 2013.

The revolutionary party is gearing for another clean sweep next year.