MDC-T concedes defeat

MDC-T Midlands North chairperson Mr Sedwell Bhebhe has conceded defeat at the hands of ZANU-PF in the province and cast the blame on shambolic primary elections that were marred by imposition of candidates prior to the harmonised elections.

The party managed a paltry five parliamentary seats in the province out of a possible 28.

The Nelson Chamisa-led party won Mbizo, Redcliff, Gweru Urban, Mkoba and Shurugwi constituencies.

NPF’s Masango Matambanadzo won the Kwekwe Central seat, the only one won by the party countrywide, whilst ZANU-PF bagged the remaining 22 seats in a resounding victory by the party in President Mnangagwa’s home province.

In an interview, Mr Bhebhe said the party’s primaries were marred by controversial decisions with the imposition of candidates taking centre stage.

“There were some bigwigs who imposed candidates against the will of the people and in the end it cost the party as a whole,” said Mr Bhebhe.

He gave an example of Gokwe-Kabuyuni constituency where he claimed a candidate was picked from Harare to contest in the primaries which went on to be rigged in his favour.

“No one even knew this David Siyamponda guy who was made to stand in the constituency,” said Mr Bhebhe. “He just came from Harare, only to be beaten. If only we had allowed people to choose their candidates, it could be a different story. You would not expect the electorate to vote for a person they do not know.”

Mr Bhebhe said the same thing also happened in Gokwe-Sesame, Gokwe-Kana and Gokwe-Mafungautsi constituencies which were all won by ZANU-PF.

Although he did not mention names, it is believed party bigwigs in the national executive like Mr Blessing Chebundo and provincial spokesperson Mr Abraham Mutshena were at the centre of the imposition debacle.

Mr Bhebhe said the MDC Alliance confused many electorate, hence they ended up voting for ZANU-PF as they did not have a clear understanding of the pact.

“The MDC-Alliance thing was also a confusing thing which we did not have enough time to educate our electorate on,” he said.

“So, most of them went to vote without adequate knowledge of the pact.”