Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube will not be contesting in the upcoming by-elections for Cowdray Park constituency, as he is already serving as a non-constituency Member of Parliament.
He was appointed by President Mnangagwa as one of the seven non-constituency MPs and the country’s Treasury boss.
Ncube was a ZANU-PF candidate for Cowdray Park in the 2023 harmonised elections, where he initiated several developmental projects and ran a pro-development campaign.
However, he lost to Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) candidate Pashor Sibanda, who was later recalled from Parliament along with 14 other CCC legislators.
ZANU-PF held primary elections on Saturday to replace the recalled members, but Ncube’s name was not among the candidates for Cowdray Park.
ZANU-PF politburo member Elifasi Mashaba explained that Ncube did not stand because he would have had to resign as a Minister and an MP if he wanted to contest in the by-elections.
“You should also bear in mind that Prof Ncube was already appointed as a Minister and what that means is that if he was to contest in the by-elections, he would have needed to step down as a Minister and stand down as an MP. That was going to create a lot of administration issues hence he did not stand,” said Cde Mashaba.
Subject to approval by the party’s leadership, Arthur Mujeyi will contest on the Zanu-PF ticket for Cowdray Park seat in the by-elections to be held on December 9.
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