Mnangagwa orders by-election to fill vacant Nkulumane seat

By Staff Reporter

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has ordered a by-election to choose a new legislator for Nkulumane constituency in Bulawayo.

The proclamation follows the death, on October 10, of then Member of Parliament (MP) Desire Moyo, who tragically died after his car hit an elephant along the Gweru-Bulawayo highway on his way from Parliament.

Moyo, popularly known as Moyoxide, was from the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), and served in Parliament’s sport, recreation, arts and culture committee.

The Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, formally notified Mnangagwa of the vacancy on October 31.

Through Proclamation 6 of 2025 issued this week, Mnangagwa decreed a by-election to fill the vacant Nkulumane National Assembly seat.

“Whereas it is provided by section 39(2) of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13), that after the President has been notified in terms of the said section of vacancies in the membership of Parliament, he shall issue a proclamation ordering a new election to fill the vacancies in the same manner, mutatis mutandi, as provided in section 38 of the said Act in regard to a general election,” reads Statutory Instrument (SI) 169A of 2025.

Pursuant to fulfilling the provisions of the law, November 20, 2025, has been set as nomination day at the Magistrates’ Court in Bulawayo, while voting will be conducted on December 20, 2025, should there be more than one eligible candidate.

The country’s Electoral Act mandates the President to call a by-election within 90 days of being informed of a parliamentary vacancy.