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Victor Maphosa Herald Correspondent

ZANU-PF resoundingly won Saturday’s Wedza and Tsholotsho council by-elections, a clear sign that it  is a people’s party, officials have said.

In Wedza, Cde Manjeya Shorai Tatenda (Zanu-PF) won with 875 votes while 65 people voted for Vincent Taderera of MDC-A.

In Tsholotsho’s Ward 16, Cde Isaac Moyo of Zanu-PF won with 623 votes while Soul Ncube of MDC-A managed a paltry  147 votes. In Ward 20, Cde Tshoni Mkandla of the ruling party got 414 votes while 21 people voted for the opposition MDC-A’s Mazithulela Khupe.

Speaking to The Herald after the announcement of the results yesterday, Matabeleland North Zanu-PF provincial chair Cde Richard Moyo said the ruling party’s victory means people supported the party and its ideas.

“We retained our seats in Wards 16 and 20 with resounding wins. This means only one thing: that the ruling party is still loved by the people and as Matabeleland North, we are happy about this.

“Despite hardships we are facing as a nation, people still support the revolutionary party full time. This is shown by the numbers that we garnered in the just-ended polls,”’ he said.

This is not the first time Zanu-PF has crushed opposition parties in by-elections across the country this year.

Recently, Zanu-PF retained the Zaka East National Assembly seat after businessman Cde Clemence Chiduwa garnered 7 119 votes, shrugging off the challenge of three other candidates by a wide margin.

Cde Chiduwa’s nearest challenger, Mr Derick Charamba of MDC-A, could only manage 1 518 votes, a result that has already sent alarm bells ringing in the beleaguered opposition party.

Mr Clemence Chavarika of the National Constitutional Assembly got 83 votes while Mr Lazarus Mubango of Free Zimbabwe Congress settled for 63 votes in an election that had a 55,7 percent voter turnout.