Jonathan Moyo loses seat to MDC-T

By Thelma Chikwanha

HARARE – Serial political flip-flopper Jonathan Moyo was trounced in the Tsholotho North national assembly election by newcomer Rosemary Sipepa-Nkomo.

The Zanu PF spin doctor lost his seat by a margin of 228 votes to Sipepa Nkomo of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC, and wife of Sam Sipepa Nkomo, who polled 4 874 votes.

Moyo’s humiliation comes after a controversial broadcast on national television on the eve of the election where he told the nation that if they did not vote wisely, the baton would not be passed.

Formerly a fierce critic of Zanu PF, Moyo appeared on the revolutionary party’s front during the rejected 2000 constitutional draft.

He was later appointed minister of information, a position he held between 2000 and 2005 where he gained himself notoriety as media hangman after orchestrating the shutting down of the nation’s favourite newspaper, the Daily News in September 2003.

The Daily News only came back in late March 2011.

However, Moyo’s ride on the gravy train came to a painful and abrupt end after he allegedly engaged in a plot to unseat President Robert Mugabe in what came to be known as the Tsholotsho debacle.

Still, he managed to secure his Tsholotsho North seat after standing as an independent candidate in 2008 with the support of Tsvangirai’s MDC.

Although his constituency told him they would not vote for him if he went back to Zanu PF, he decided to call their bluff and has now been left with mud on the face.

According to whistle-blower website, WikiLeaks, Moyo held secret meetings with United States officials where he viciously bad-mouthed and effectively plotted to unseat Mugabe.

It now remains to be seen what political fate lies ahead for him and whether, for example, Mugabe will appoint him non-constituency member of Parliament and a Cabinet minister. Daily News