Independent candidate for the Nkulumane parliamentary by-election, Mbuso Fuzwayo, has accused suspected Zanu PF activists of systematically tearing down his campaign posters, in what he says is an attempt to intimidate his team and obstruct his campaign ahead of the December 20, 2025 poll.
Fuzwayo told CITE that the destruction of his posters intensified at the start of the week, with several neighbourhoods reporting torn or removed material.
He said while isolated incidents had occurred earlier, the scale of damage discovered since Sunday pointed to deliberate sabotage.
“Well it’s unfortunate since Sunday I discovered a great number of posters were torn on Sunday but before that, some that were torn, the extent was not as extensive as what me and my team are currently seeing,” he said.
“I don’t exactly know and it’s not clear but I have a strong feeling that it might be Zanu PF people destroying our posters.”
The independent candidate also alleged direct intimidation of his team members in Nkulumane.
“Because the other concern we have just recorded is the threatening of one of my campaign team members, Colbert Mahonondo, by Khumbulani Mlilo, that’s the unfortunate part happening in Nkulumane,” Fuzwayo said.
The claims come as political temperatures rise in Bulawayo’s western suburbs ahead of the by-election, triggered by the death of the previous Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) legislator, Desire Moyo in October.
Campaign materials for candidates have begun appearing on street poles, shops and community notice spaces, with Fuzwayo claiming his have been targeted disproportionately.
Zimbabwe’s Electoral Act clearly criminalises the defacing, tearing or unauthorised removal of campaign posters and other political materials during an election period.
Section 152 of the Electoral Act on the destruction of political posters states:
“Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level ten or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”
The same provision states that from the moment an election is called to the declaration of results, “no person shall deface or remove any billboard, placard or poster published, posted or displayed by a political party or candidate contesting the election,” unless the removal is done by the candidate themselves or the property owner on whose premises the poster was unlawfully placed.
Section 153 further makes it an offence to place or deface property for political purposes without the consent of the owner.
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