Chirumhanzu Zibagwe constituency is located in Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. This constituency was created out of the old Chirumhanzu constituency. It comprises of Mvuma which is a town as well as Rukundo and Netherburn.

History

The constituency was created out of Chirumhanzu constituency.^[1] It was led by a ZANU-PF candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa before he was elevated to the post of vice president in December 2014. After his elevation, Mnangagwa was bound by law to vacate his parliamentary seat as for the presidium. This resulted in the holding of ZANU-PF primary elections to select a candidate who will contest for the seat on 27 March 2015. The party is said to have Auxilia Mnangagwa, wife to vice president Mnangagwa unopposed.^[2] Prior to her nomination, there were also rumours that Mnangagwa's son Emmerson Mnangagwa Junior was also planning to take over from his father.

Government

In the 2013 Elections, (see A History of Zimbabwean Elections) Chirumanzu-Zibagwe returned to Parliament:

Emmerson D Mnangagwa of Zanu PF with 17 996 votes or 84.48 percent,
Ishmael Jeko of MDC-T with 2 803 votes or 13.16 percent,
Janet S Zinyemba of MDC with 503 votes or 2.36 percent,

Total 21 302 votes

2015 Candidates

After Zanu PF nominated Auxilia Mnangagwa to contest for the vacant seat, other parties also submitted their candidates. Four other aspiring MPs for the constituency submitted their papers at the Gweru nomination court on the 29th of January 2015. The other candidates who were contesting gainst the vice president's wife include Munashe Mutodza (NCA), Abigail Rumbidzai Musambasa (Transform Zimbabwe), Gadzamoyo Dehwa (Good People’s Movement) and Chawaona Wilbroad Kanoti (an Independent).^[3]

Elections were held on 27 March 2015. Auxilia Mnangagwa emerged the winner after garnering 16 092 votes far ahead of her opponents who scored paltry figures. She automatically secured a seat in parliament representing the constituency. ^[4]

Local government (also Chirumhanzu) is covered by Takawira RDC.

=Population=/Infrastructure

Chirumhanzu Zibagwe Parliamentary Constituency
Chirumhanzu Zibagwe Parliamentary Constituency
	constituency
Region	Midlands
Population	40 000
Electorate	20 000
Major settlements	1
Current constituency
Seats	1
Party	Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front
Replaced by	Auxilia Mnangagwa
Created from	Emmerson Mnangagwa

The constituency has a population of more than 40 000 people and more than 10 000 households. According to a report published by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in 2008, the constituency has close to 20 000 registered voters which accounted for about 48% of the total population.^[1]

In 2011, there Chirimhanzu-Zibagwe constituency, had a total of 37 primary schools with a total enrolment of more than 24 000 pupils. There was also a total of 13 secondary schools in the constituency. The total enrolment at the secondary schools stood at well over 2 887 pupils.^[1]

There are 11 health centers in the constituency. Three of the centres are hospitals known as Mvuma, Driefontein and Muvonde. Mvuma is the district hospital owned by government. Driefontein and Muvonde are mission hospitals. There are also 2 rural health centres and the 6 clinics.^[1]