Harare(New Ziana) – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has implored Zimbabweans to remain peaceful ahead of by-elections early next year, highlighting that the conduct of elections in a calm environment is crucial to the deepening of the country’s democracy.
Zimbabwe is due to hold by-elections to fill vacant Parliamentary and local authority seats in March next year.
The government had shelved the holding of by-elections as part of broad measures to control the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
But now the country is on course to attain herd immunity due to its highly successful Covid-19 vaccination programme and other containment measures.
As of last month, there were 28 National Assembly and 105 local authority vacancies across the country mostly occasioned by recalls by the MDC-T.
In his New Year message to Zimbabweans, President Mnangagwa called for peace as the elections drew close.
“As you may be aware, by-elections will be conducted in 2022. These will also serve as a reminder to all that elections are the only route that people can take to elect representatives of their choice. You should, therefore, vote peacefully, and I urge candidates to conduct themselves in an honourable manner that deepens the maturity of our democracy,” he said.
New Ziana