HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has set February 3, 2024 as the date the country shall hold by-elections to replace another batch of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) legislators ousted recently on the orders of self-proclaimed interim party secretary general Sengezo Tshabangu.
Among MPs who were recalled are Mkoba MP Amos Chibaya and Pelandaba legislator Gift Ostallos Siziba.
In a presidential proclamation issued through Statutory Instrument 235 of 2023, Mnangagwa set December 18 as the date nomination court shall sit in different parts of the country to receive applications from prospective candidates.
Mnangagwa said, “I do, by this proclamation, order new elections for the constituencies Pelandaba, Goromonzi South, Seke, Chegutu West, Zvimba East and Mkoba North, and fix Monday the 18th day of December 2023 as the date on which the nomination court…”
He went on to “fix Saturday the 3rd of February, 2024 as the day on which a poll shall be taken if a poll become necessary in terms of section 46(17)(c) of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2.13)”.
The poll shall follow the first round of by-elections already set for December 9 this year.
Just like the February poll, the December by-elections were made possible by controversial recalls on CCC MPs who were elected in the August 2023 elections.
The CCC has described the expulsions as a state sponsored attempt by Mnangagwa to reduce the number of opposition legislators and impose a defacto one-party state.
Mnangagwa’s government denies playing a hand in the recalls.
The Zanu PF led authority has faced criticism for blowing the public purse to hold costly by-elections in a country saddled by myriad economic challenges.
