Zanu PF’s Tsikira wins Bulawayo Ward 1 by-election with commanding majority

ZANU-PF candidate Mathias Tichaona Tsikira has won the Bulawayo Ward 1 council by-election, according to the official declaration of results by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) following polling on Saturday.

Cde Tsikira polled 1,590 votes, comfortably ahead of independent candidate Shepherd Sithole, who received 112 votes, while Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) candidate Mduduzi Sibanda polled 74 votes.

The results were declared after counting was completed at the polling stations.

The official declaration also recorded 15 rejected ballot papers, while the percentage poll was recorded at 12.47 percent.

The result gives Zanu-PF the Ward 1 council seat following a campaign in which Cde Tsikira placed service delivery at the centre of his message.

In the days leading to polling, his campaign highlighted initiatives including the drilling of boreholes and the donation of Starlink equipment to schools.

Polling in the ward opened at 7am and closed at 7pm, with ZEC having deployed officials and materials across all polling stations in Ward 1.

The election attracted three candidates — Cde Tsikira, Sibanda and Sithole — who were successfully nominated on September 2.

The Ward 1 seat became vacant after former councillor Josiah Mutangi was removed from office following an independent tribunal’s finding of misconduct. ZEC subsequently set October 3 as the polling date to fill the vacancy.

Cde Tsikira’s victory follows an intensive Zanu-PF mobilisation campaign in the ward, with senior party officials, including National Political Commissar Cde Munyaradzi Machacha, urging residents to support the party candidate.

For Zanu-PF, the result adds another council seat to its recent run of by-election victories.