Seeds  distributed  in  Matobo  South,  two  days  before  the  vote,  and  four  months  early!       5.   Bulawayo  -­‐  and  the  City  Council     All  House  of  Assembly  seats  were  won  by  MDC-­‐A,  except  for  Bulawayo  South,  which  was  lost  to  a   divided  vote.  There  were  two  MDC-­‐A  candidates  here,  whose  combined  vote  would  have  won  the   seat.  One  of  these  MDC-­‐A  candidates  currently  faces  theft  charges.  There  were  complaints  of   rigged  primaries  in  Bulawayo,  and  of  unsuitable  candidates  being  thrust  on  the  voters.  Gift  Banda  of   the  MDC-­‐A,  who  won  a  House  of  Assembly  seat  in  this  election,  was  allegedly  involved  in  corruption   around  fraudulently  allocating  himself  vast  tracts  of  council  land  during  2016.  He  was  previously  the   Deputy  Mayor,  and  is  now  head  of  Bulawayo  Province  for  the  MDC-­‐A.  Banda  was  accused  of   imposing  his  own  candidates  at  all  levels,  including  the  Senate  and  Council.30       There  were  protests  and  demonstrations  in  Bulawayo  ahead  of  the  council’s  election  for  Mayor.31   This  year  for  the  first  time,  a  large  proportion  of  elected  councilors  are  of  Shona  origin,  in  a  town   that  considers  itself  to  be  predominantly  Ndebele-­‐speaking.32  There  was  chaos  when  the  council   tried  to  conduct  the  mayoral  elections,  leading  to  the  intervention  of  the  town  clerk  and  their   postponement.33  There  were  many  complaints  that  the  MDC-­‐A  primary  elections  for  council  were   rigged  ahead  of  the  election,  and  that  voters  were  not  happy  with  the  final  list  of  candidates,  who   were  accused  of  forging  letters  of  endorsement  among  other  things.34  Many  voted  grudgingly  for                                                                                                               30  Vusuamuzi  Dube,  “Report  details  massive  corruption  at  City  Council”,  The  Chronicle,  22  September  2016.      Jeffrey  Muvundusi,  “Bulawayo  finally  elects  mayor”,  Daily  News,  8  September  2018.     32  Paul  Nyathi,  “Tribal  storm  brewing  ahead  of  Bulawayo  mayoral  elections”,  ZimEye,  4  September  2018.  Jeffrey   Muvundusi,  “Chaos  as  councillor  takes  oath  in  Shona”,  Daily  News,    1  September  2018.     33  Vusamusi  Dube,  “Bulawayo  mayoral  election  deferred  as  confusion  reigns”,  The  Chronicle,  5  September  2018.     34  Ibid.     31   25