Makari`s victory a tale of hard work, dedication and repentance
Mako Jerera
On the eve of the ZANU PF Primary Election, Zalera Makari was unsure of whether or not she was going to run.
A difference in opinion with the party during the 2018 election, which gifted the opposition a seat in parliament on a silver platter meant she had to wait for a determination by the leadership.
Being a reconciliatory party, ZANU PF allowed her to contest.
Ballot papers had already been printed, so the condition was that those who preferred her candidature had to write her name on the ballot before voting for her.
She was going against seasoned politicians, like the Harare Province Political Commissar Kudakwashe Damson, but she prevailed.
From the day the 44 year old won the berth to represent ZANU PF, Makari campaigned as if her life depended on her victory.
She had the most in-constituency rallies among all participants in the by-election.
Her work ethic was informed by two factors, she also bore a moral obligation to bring back the seat back to the ruling party as she had played a part in Earthridge Kureva of the MDC-A (which turned to CCC) winning it before recall.
She also told the Sunday Mail in an interview in the run-up to the election that she had unfinished business with the people of Epworth, having served them between 2015 and 2018 in the House of Assembly.
Makari won against former legislator Eathrage Kureva (Citizens Coalition for Change), Richard Musiyadzaanikwa (LEAD), Innocent Hazvina (Independent), and Zivai Togarepi Mhetu (MDC Alliance).
She got 10 248 votes while the second contender Earthrage Kureva got 8 283 votes.
In Harare, where 12 constituencies were up for grabs, four women, namely Cde Mavis Gumbo, Cde Betty Nhambu, Cde Zalerah Makari and Cde Loice Magweba on a mission to win the constituencies of Harare East, Kuwadzana, Epworth and Harare Central respectively, Makari was the lone star.
The Epworth seat was under MDC Alliance MP Earthrage Kureva who was recalled by the MDC-T led by Thokozani Khupe in 2020.
Makari, a niece to the late former President Robert Mugabe and a devoted Catholic, first won the Epworth seat in September 2015 when she pulled over 10 500 votes against her rivals who included independent candidate Daniel Foyer.
Her return came after the ruling party announced an open door policy for estranged cadres wishing to return and she won.
Makari has pledged to work with other contestants if she wins in the March elections, saying she is opposed to the politics of mudslinging and violence.
Across the country, ZANU-PF has retained the seats it won in the 2018 harmonised elections.
Zanu PF also retained its rural sets in Mberengwa South, Murewa South, Chivi South, Mwenezi East, Gokwe Central and Tsholotsho North.
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