In the aftermath of the March 26 by-election, there has been debate on social media on voting trends for ZANU-PF and the opposition in Matabeleland provinces.
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activist, Discent Bajila, tweeted: “The regional anger on why Tsholotsho voted ZPF (ZANU-PF) is very unfortunate if it isn’t equal to the size of anger on the 8 other constituencies that did the same. 21/38 constituencies in Mat’land have ZANU-PF MPs. Why single out Tsholotsho for your ridicule? Elsewhere it’s even worse.”
A social media user asked ZimFact to check Bajila’s figures on the number of Members of Parliament. We checked, and it is accurate.
ZANU-PF does indeed have 21 out of 38 MPs in Matabeleland constituencies. It holds 20 of the 24 rural Matabeleland constituencies.
Matabeleland voting trends
In 2000, the Movement for Democratic Change, in its first election after launch, won 21 out of the 23 Matabeleland constituencies.
Tracking votes in one province, Matabeleland North, the MDC in 2000 won 73.6% of the vote in 2000. In 2018, the party, which ran as MDC Alliance, won 37.8%. Combined with the splinter party MDC-T, the MDC vote was 47.3%, more than ZANU PF’s total share of the vote, 39.5%. However, ZANU PF won the most seats in the province in 2018.
CONCLUSION
ZANU PF does hold 21 out of the 38 constituencies in Mat South, Mat North, and Bulawayo.
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