The Glen View South by-election held on 12 April 2025 offers a sobering reality of the current state of Zimbabwean opposition politics, fractured, absent, and increasingly ineffective.
With the ruling ZANU-PF emerging victorious in a constituency that had previously voted overwhelmingly for the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) in 2023, the election results paint a picture of opposition parties either asleep at the wheel or entirely sidelined.
Tsitsi Tawomhera of ZANU-PF secured 3,404 votes in 2025, an incremental increase from the 3,112 the party earned in 2023. On the surface, this suggests a stable support base for the ruling party. However, the real story lies in the dramatic drop in voter turnout and the opposition’s glaring absence.
In 2023, CCC’s Gladmore Hakata won the seat with 15,203 votes. That support all but evaporated in 2025. None of the opposition-aligned independents (Chakaredza Tonderai: 993, Makwangadze George: 681, Madzokere Tungamirai: 234) came close to mounting a serious challenge, while the NCA trailed with a meager 77 votes.
With turnout at a dismal 17.2% (4,833 total voters), the figures are plain: nearly 11,000 voters who once backed the opposition simply didn’t show up. This abstention isn’t just apathy,it’s symbolic of a deeper political disillusionment.
Much of the blame falls squarely on the fractured state of the opposition itself. After the death of CCC’s MP Hakata, the party failed to rally behind a unified candidate. Instead, three independents loosely aligned with the CCC brand emerged, all campaigning under the ghost of its former leadership without the institutional weight or coordination to back them.
The CCC’s failure to field an official candidate is more than a strategic misstep; it reflects the internal chaos that has plagued the party since late 2023. Leadership disputes, factionalism, and a lack of clear succession plans have made it increasingly difficult for the party to present itself as a credible alternative to ZANU-PF.
When combined with the government’s role in undermining opposition activity, through both legal and extra-legal means, this has effectively neutralized one of the strongest opposition forces Zimbabwe has seen in decades.
ZANU-PF’s campaign machinery was well-oiled. The party fielded a single, officially recognized candidate early, ran the most visible campaign with high-profile support, and leveraged state resources and structures to maximum effect. In contrast, the independent opposition figures were under-resourced and under-organized.
Reports from the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) also indicated some campaign-related tensions and defacement of opposition posters, signs of a hostile environment for dissenting voices.
This imbalance isn’t new. Political interference, manipulation of state institutions, and the intimidation of opposition activists are time-tested ZANU-PF strategies. Yet, in this by-election, the ruling party didn’t need brute force. The opposition’s internal implosion did the job for them.
This recent by-election is a grim case study in how Zimbabwe’s opposition is losing not just elections, but relevance. Without a unified front, credible leadership, or a coherent strategy, opposition parties are sleepwalking into political oblivion. Meanwhile, ZANU-PF continues to consolidate power, often by default rather than popular acclaim.
Voter turnout is plummeting and the electoral playing field remaining skewed, which is killing democracy. Until the opposition can overcome its internal crises and navigate the external pressures it faces, Zimbabwean elections will remain hollow rituals, more about retaining power than reflecting the people’s will.
