Voters "Punish" Independent Councillor For Joining ZANU PF
A former independent councillor in Insiza South who won in the 2018 elections before joining ZANU PF, lost his seat in the recently concluded August 23 elections.
Voters in Ward 15 voted for Shepherd Juta as their councillor in 2018 when he stood as an independent candidate but he later joined ZANU PF in 2021.
This time around, he lost to Tedious Mguni of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
Jota was among two NPF members and two MDC members who were paraded at a ZANU PF event on 29 May 2021 soon after they defected to the ruling party.
Locals in Ward 15 who spoke to CITE claimed Juta would have been re-elected if he had not joined ZANU PF.
In an interview with CITE, Juta explained why he decided to join ZANU PF. He said:
Had it been that I was power hungry, I was going to remain an independent candidate but I joined ZANU PF because it has resources so I was aiming to access funding and develop the area.
He added that he had realised that it was difficult to work as an independent candidate because one would not access enough support from the government to initiate projects. Said Juta:
This was the reason why I joined the ruling party so as to work together. I would also source donations from people but it was not enough for big projects.
Juta said he had run his race and was not planning to contest in the next coming elections in 2028.
More: Pindula News
