MASVINGO West MDC-T MP Tichaona Chiminya Mharadze has pulled out of the party’s primary election race and pledged to rally behind his contestant Takanayi Mureyi to promote what he termed “the spirit of passing on the baton”.
Report by Tatenda Chitagu
Mharadze becomes the third sitting MDC-T MP to voluntarily leave his seat and to allow another person to take over.
Minister of Constitutional Affairs Eric Matinenga did the same last year – standing down and supporting John Makumbe who died before he could take over the constituency.
Masvingo Central MP Jefferyson Chitando also pulled out of the race for the Lower House to pursue a Senatorial seat.
Mharadze told NewsDay yesterday he had decided to relinquish his Masvingo West seat to Mureyi to promote the spirit of ‘passing on the baton’.
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This will leave Mureyi, a Harare-based businessman, as the MDC-T’s sole candidate for the seat after four other Young Turks withdrew their candidature and pledged to rally behind him.
Said Chiminya: “It is true that I will not be seeking re-election. I have passed on the baton, not because I am afraid of competition, but just that we do not want to divide votes.
“I am doing this for the good of the party. I do not want to see Masvingo West going back to Zanu PF. I discovered that there are supporters who say, ‘We will either go down with you or win with you’.
“People may say a lot, but I will actually campaign for him and introduce him to the electorate so that we field one strong candidate. I am not a career politician.”
Contacted for comment, Mureyi said “I was heeding a call by the people who wanted me to stand in Masvingo West, so I could not let them down.”
MDC-T Masvingo provincial spokesperson Harrison Mudzuri confirmed the development, but said the party was yet to get official communication from Mharadze.
“It is true that I have heard such reports, but we are yet to receive, as a party, official communication from Mharadze. But I would like to commend him because he has shown that the party is bigger than individuals. It does not make sense to divide votes just to get into power,” Mudzuri said.