Former St Mary’s Member of Parliament, Unganai Dickson Tarusenga, says he is confident that will retain the constituency in the 26 March by-elections.
The constituency fell vacant after the then MP was recalled by the Douglas Mwonzora led MDC-T on allegations that he was serving the interests of the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC Alliance.
Tarusenga expressed confidence in winning the seat under the newly-formed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) banner. He told Pindula News:
I am confident because people follow the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) brand.
Recently, the MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa rebranded to Citizens Coalition for Change after Mwonzora notified the Zimbabwe Elections Commission (ZEC) that MDC-T would contest future elections as the MDC Alliance.
Asked whether the electorate will understand the name change from MDC Alliance to CCC, Tarusenga said:
It is the idea whose time has come, so my brother, this wave is definitely moving with the people without any problems.
He added that what pushes him to contest in the upcoming by-elections is the desire to complete the outstanding projects that benefit the St Mary’s community.
Pressed to be specific on the outstanding projects, Tarusenga cited the rehabilitation of St Mary’s clinic which he kickstarted but eventually stalled when he was recalled. He added:
My brother, CCC is for ‘shanduko‘ (meaning change), watch the space. The rebranding is definitely not going to affect or haunt party campaigns because if you remember, it was the people who championed this name change to CCC.
Tarusenga will fight it out with Norbert Jinjika of ZANU PF, MDC Alliance’s Adam Puzo and Marcos Sanyanga, an independent candidate.