Political Reporter
The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader, Nelson Chamisa was left with an egg on his face after the defeat of his preferred candidate in the just ended Bulawayo Ward 6 by-elections.
A source who spoke to this publication said Chamisa wanted Norman Hlabani to be the councillor, while his interim co-deputy, Welshman Ncube was backing Mpumelelo Moyo. According to the source, the tussle for power between Chamisa and Ncube saw CCC fielding double candidates in Bulawayo Ward 6.
Ncube reportedly signed for Moyo’s nomination papers, while Hlabani’s papers were reportedly signed by the deputy national chairman, Job Sikhala on behalf of Chamisa.
Hlabani was the incumbent councillor before he was recalled.
“Chamisa was not pleased with the results for Ward 6 despite the party winning in that ward. Chamisa wanted his long-time ally, Hlabani to win but was surprised when his preferred candidate came a distant third after the final tallying of results,” said the source.
The source added that Ward 6 was a silent battleground for Ncube and Chamisa as they both wanted to gauge their popularity. The source said that the fact that Chamisa’s candidate, Hlabani, got a paltry 261 votes against Ncube’s preferred candidate’s 748 votes shows that Chamisa’s support in Bulawayo was at rock bottom.
The source added that Chamisa was frustrated after realising that his candidate also lost to ZANU PF’s candidate, Lungisani Sibanda who garnered 418 votes. The source further said that the results exonerated Ncube who was saying Hlabani was not the people’s preferred candidate.
According to the source, the people of Bulawayo Ward 6 welcomed the results as they view Hlabani as a perennial failure.
“The people of Ward 6 have welcomed the results as they didn’t want Hlabani to win. To them, Hlabani is a perennial failure who should not be given a chance again to ruin the ward. Hlabani is accused of failing to properly represent the people and his defeat was good news to the people of Ward 6,” added the source.
Meanwhile, the losing ZANU PF candidate in that ward, Sibanda, has vowed to wrestle the ward in the next elections slated for next year saying that by then, the people of ward 6 would have been convinced that they made a wrong choice in voting for a CCC candidate.
