President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party has won a key by-election in rural Zimbabwe, according to results announced on state radio Sunday. Mugabe's party kept its parliamentary seat in Mudzi East constituency in central Zimbabwe. Christopher Musa won the seat with 15,811 votes against 2,382 votes for opposition candidate Bvunzai Gozi, a member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), dpa reported. The by-election on Saturday was the first since general elections at the end of March, which were won overwhelmingly by ZANU-PF. It was also the first since a controversial police blitz on shacks and market stalls, which has left tens of thousands of people homeless in urban areas, dpa reported. Mugabe's government says the campaign is an attempt to restore "order" to cities and towns. Police have said they will take the campaign to the rural areas. In his victory message, Musa promised "to work hard for the development of the constituency", state radio said. The by-election was called after the ZANU-PF member of parliament for Mudzi East, Ray Kaukonde, was appointed as a provincial governor by Mugabe. --SP 2216 Local Time 1916 GMT
