The United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA) has warned that the upcoming by-elections will have a negative impact on the country’s economy and urged political parties to focus on moving the country forward rather than settling personal political scores.
The country is set to hold by-elections on December 9, 2023, following the recall of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) lawmakers and councillors by Sengezo Tshabangu who claims to be the Secretary General of the opposition party.
In an interview with CITE, UZA vice president Frank Mhlanga said the party has not yet decided whether to participate in the by-elections.
He said that in their engagements with citizens, they have expressed disappointment by the by-elections.
“People are very disappointed. Wherever I go, people express their disappointment. They say they voted and expected things to be better off, to see the country moving forward. They are actually very agitated, disappointed. It’s really uncalled for,” Mhlanga said.
He said that a number of people might not turn up on the voting day.
“Definitely there will be an effect in the sense that there has always been a voter apathy. People say what’s the use of voting? They are not keen to vote although we had numbers that cut across all political parties in the election. With such changes, it is going to affect voter attendance,” Mhlanga said.
Meanwhile, Mhlanga said that political parties should focus on moving the country forward rather than settling personal political scores.
“We need to see Zimbabwe moving forward. If people could focus on the big picture that is citizens’ interest other than personal political ambitions, let’s have a greater picture of the country. We have been stuck for so many years. The country has been limping for a long time. So if we can have people commit to moving the country forward other than gunning for personal issues at the expense of the nation,” he said.
