Zimbabwe is having elections to fill vacant positions, but some people are trying to keep the main opposition candidates from running. This is happening as President Emmerson Mnangagwa strengthens his power.
The vote happened because some CCC MPs had lost their seats.
This was made by someone who said they were the leader of the party.
The result could make the government have a very large majority.
The CCC didn’t win the general election in August but they got more than 100 out of 280 seats in parliament. This means that the ruling Zanu-PF party was not able to win enough votes to have the power to make changes to the constitution.
Some people think the party made these by-elections happen in places where it recently lost on purpose.
The CCC has a lot of fighting among its members and the current crisis seems to be mostly caused by the CCC itself.
This is important because President Mnangagwa’s party needs just a few more seats to have a strong majority in parliament.
Once it passes that limit, changes to the constitution can be made. It wouldn’t be surprising if people start talking about getting rid of the limit on how long a president can serve.
Six years ago, many people in Zimbabwe thought that when Robert Mugabe was removed from power, the country would become more democratic.
It is surprising that some in the opposition seem to be helping the president gain more power.
In October, Sengezo Tshabangu, who was not well-known in Zimbabwe, wrote a letter to the head of parliament saying that some CCC members were no longer part of the party.
The leader of CCC, Nelson Chamisa, said that Mr Tshabangu is not real and asked the speaker to not pay attention to the letter.
But Mr Chamisa was not listened to when the speaker announced that there were empty positions in the areas. The by-elections on Saturday happened as a result of that.
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Zimbabwe voters participate in contentious by-elections
