President Emmerson Mnangagwa Wednesday said by-elections to fill Parliamentary and local government seats left vacant following the expulsion and death of some members will be held in the first quarter of 2022.
There are 28 National Assembly and 105 local authority vacancies across the country.
He made the remarks at Kopa growth point in Manicaland where he was officially launching the Jopa-Kopa highway.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had earlier proposed that the by-elections will be held next year.
According to the draft electoral road map, ZEC has set April 23, 2022, as the proposed date for elections.
The government last year suspended by-elections indefinitely saying it was a measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The delayed holding of the by-elections has attracted criticism from some quarters including the international community.
The United States embassy in Harare recently asked when Zimbabwe was going to hold the by-elections suggesting that COVID-19 must not be used as an excuse considering that neighbouring countries, including South Africa which has the most COVID-19 cases in Africa, had successfully held elections during the pandemic.
Some view the suspension of by-elections as a strategy by the ruling ZANU PF to make sure that the opposition MDC Alliance is not represented.
Most of the vacant seats were previously held by MDC Alliance members who were recalled by rival MDC-T.