437 000 opposition members defect to Zanu-PF

ZANU-PF Secretary for Commissariat, Munyaradzi Machacha, announced that the ruling party has registered 437,000 defectors from opposition parties under its ongoing "Huyai Kumusha / Buyanini Ekhaya / Come Home" campaign. Speaking in an interview on Thursday, Machacha said the party has established a dedicated returnees' department within the Commissariat to accommodate and integrate individuals joining from opposition ranks.

"This year alone we have received not less than 187,000 people returning to the party, in addition to the 250,000 we had previously received," he said. "We can see that this is a massive mass movement away from bankrupt opposition politics to empowering, development-orientated Zanu-PF politics."

The campaign has attracted several high-profile former opposition figures, including Collins Tsvangirai, brother to the late MDC founder Morgan Tsvangirai. Machacha credited the defections to President Mnangagwa's leadership and governance, which he said have made the party's policies increasingly attractive even to opposition members.

He expressed confidence that Zanu-PF will continue to consolidate power, suggesting that the party could eventually dominate Zimbabwean politics once more: "Naturally, Zanu-PF will continue to grow and eventually become an unlegislated one-party state again as we wait for the emergence of opposition politics."

Machacha also highlighted the role of the ruling party's development agenda, referencing NDS1 and NDS2, and claimed that the pattern of economic growth, modernisation, and industrialisation would continue to improve livelihoods and welfare. He called on all party structures to fully embrace the returnees and integrate them into party cells and committees.

The announcement underscores Zanu-PF's ongoing efforts to absorb opposition figures and strengthen its political dominance ahead of upcoming electoral cycles.