The Nkulumane parliamentary by-election has once again laid bare deep voter apathy in urban Zimbabwe, with official figures showing that only 22.7 percent of registered voters turned out to cast their ballots, despite heavy political mobilisation, alleged vote-buying and the deployment of significant campaign resources. Out of a total voter population of 22 833 in Nkulumane, fewer than a quarter participated in the December 20, 2025 poll, reinforcing a long-standing pattern in which low turnout in by-elections has tended to favour the ruling Zanu PF, particularly in Bulawayo and across Matabeleland. Zanu PF candidate Freedom Murechu won the seat with 3 416 votes, a decisive margin over a fragmented opposition field.
Independent candidate Rodney Donovan Jele came a distant second with 745 votes, followed by another independent contender, Esther Auxilia Zitha, widow of late Nkulumane MP Desire Moyo, who secured 325 votes. Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC)’s Mothusi “Madlela” Ndlovu garnered 320 votes, while independent candidate Fuzwayo Mbuso received 121. ZAPU’s Vivian Viyo Siziba managed 110 votes, EFF Zimbabwe’s Alson Moyo 65, MDCT’s Ethel Sibanda 23 and Zimbabwe African National Congress (ZANC)’s Nompilo Malaba Ncube 18.
Election officials also recorded 36 rejected ballot papers, a figure that, while relatively small, added to concerns about voter education and electoral literacy in the constituency. Despite Nkulumane considered as an opposition stronghold, the outcome reflects a broader national trend in which Zanu PF has consistently swept by-elections, benefiting from low participation and the concentration of state machinery on a single constituency at a time. “Let’s analyse how Zanu PF has been doing in by-elections in cities.
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Let’s look at the huge winning margins,” said one political observer. “For me it speaks to a dead or captured opposition. The opposition is at its weakest.” “In a by-election, Zanu PF focuses state machinery on a particular constituency, making it difficult for the opposition to get anything. Zanu PF has largely won most by-elections across the country historically,” the analyst said in a social platform.
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