Fear pervades the peri-urban farming community of Matava in the Midlands Province’s Redcliff Constituency on the eve of Zimbabwe’s harmonised elections following a campaign allegedly anchored on coercion by one of the region’s ruling party heavyweights.
Local Government minister July Moyo has been accused of using all tricks in the book to win the constituency he lost to former Redcliff undertaker Lloyd Mukapiko five years ago, including alleged vote buying.
Mukapiko was an MDC Alliance candidate when he defeated Moyo, a close ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and a Zanu PF ‘Godfather’ in the Midlands accused by corruption watchdogs of trying to use his financial muscle to win the constituency.
Moyo, who is a former Midlands governor and Zanu PF deputy secretary for administration, has a strong support base in Redcliff.
In his campaign poster for the failed 2018 election bid, the powerful minister boasted about dolling out money to fund over 12 projects, which he felt should give him an edge over his opponent.
He got 11 320 votes against his opponent’s 11 739 in one of the election’s biggest upsets.
Mukapiko and Moyo will square off again on August 23 for control of the constituency.
Source The Standard
