Zimpapers Logo

Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau
ZANU-PF candidates contesting in the forthcoming primaries must not allow the elections to divide them as they need to approach the harmonised polls as a united front, an official has urged.

Speaking at an extraordinary Provincial Coordinating Committee meeting held in Mutare on Monday, Zanu-PF national chairperson Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said there had been complaints over the ongoing cell registration verification process, as some candidates were creating non-existing registers to increase numbers of people likely to vote for them in the primary elections.

The primary elections are set for Sunday and will see 110 candidates in Manicaland battling it out for positions in Senate, National Assembly, women’s quota and the provincial council. Many others will also contest for seats in local government.
Yesterday’s meeting was held to adopt the official list of candidates that will contest on a Zanu-PF ticket in the harmonised elections.

“Complaints are coming in that some candidates are creating their own cell registers and adding names of non-members while some officials from the verification teams are letting them do this. If you put MDC people in your cells just to gain numbers, those people will be responsible for your loss in the elections,” she said.

Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri said such actions only served to divide the party. She urged candidates to work together in coming up with registers to ensure free and fair elections.

“Candidates should work together to create these cell registers because these voters don’t belong to an individual, they are Zanu-PF voters.

“We will need the same voters after the primaries. Badmouthing your opponent will only foster hatred but if you work together, voters will see that we are one and support us. Don’t divide the people,” she said.
She said cheating during the primary election would affect the party’s representation in the Senate, National Assembly and the women’s quota and also affect the party’s credibility.

She said it was important for the party to select the right candidates in the primary elections as this year’s elections were crucial.

“We want candidates who will represent us well in future, not people who just want to go into Parliament because they think it will benefit them. Go and sort things out or else you will field the wrong candidates. And we don’t want to go to the election with the wrong candidates,” she said.

Cde Muchinguri Kashiri said infighting before the primaries would only cause divisions that opposition parties could capitalise on.

“We should remember that there are 125 other political parties in the race. While some are fly-by night parties, we should not think that they cannot damage our political vision.

“Some of these parties have people with a Zanu-PF background who know how we operate. They know our strategies, so let us not take them for granted but unite and come up with new strategies,” she added.

She said there was no room for factionalism in Manicaland and urged all candidates to campaign as a group, as this would foster unity.

Deputy national political commissar, Cde Omega Hungwe said it was important for primaries to be held in a proper manner, as they provided a window into how the party would perform during the harmonised election.
“Cells are the ones that will make Zanu-PF win this election. It all begins at cell level.
“After the primaries, we will need to join hands to campaign for the harmonised elections,” she said.