THE ruling Zanu-PF party primary polls last month were reportedly the worst nightmare for sitting Mutare West MP Teedzai Percy Muchimwe.
It has emerged that he only managed to garner eight votes in a contest against his former aide and driver Nyasha Marange, who was also his campaign manager for the 2018 elections.
The ruling party did not release final tallies for the primary elections, but some officials told NewsDay that the incumbent had a poor showing in the polls.
Zanu-PF Manicaland chairperson Tawanda Mukodza said they were still verifying the results of the primary elections.
Muchimwe said his poor showing stemmed from the fact that he withdrew from the polls at the last minute.
“I withdrew from participating in the elections so that I could support Marange who used to work for me,” he said. “I did a lot in the constituency. I tarred a road and built a dam because of the water challenges in the constituency.”A senior church member of the Johanne Marange Apostolic church in Marange, Muchimwe has been under fire from his constituency for not developing the area, while villagers blame the rampant unemployment in the area on his failure to ensure that mining companies utilise local labour in the diamond-rich constituency.
The constituency faces shortages of clinics, water and has poor roads and lack of water, among other challenges.
In his stint in Parliament, Muchimwe became infamous for claiming that his church had powers to treat COVID-19 after he had been barred from entering the august House when he failed to produce a valid vaccination certificate.
The sect is known to dissuading its members from receiving medical treatment.
A Zanu-PF supporter, who refused to be named, accused Muchimwe of sleeping on duty.
“After his election he did not come back to the electorate even for consultations, we did not see any of his contributions in Parliament,” he said.
Source: bulawayo24
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