Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede and three top police officers are among civil servants registered as Zanu PF delegates to the Second All-Stakeholders’ Conference which opens in Harare today, NewsDay can reveal.Report by Everson Mushava/Moses Matenga
According to the party’s delegates list gleaned by NewsDay yesterday, Mudede is listed as delegate number 200 while Police Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena and Assistant Commissioner Edmore Veterai are delegate number 346 and 347, respectively. The other senior cop set to attend the conference on a Zanu PF ticket is Officer Commanding Harare Province Assistant Commissioner Plaxedes Gezha, registered as delegate 345.
Although Gezha could not be reached for comment yesterday, her colleagues Bvudzijena and Veterai could neither confirm nor deny that they neither confirm nor deny that they would attend the conference under the Zanu PF flag. Police have previously been accused of being partisan with Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri publicly declaring his allegiance to Zanu PF. “What is wrong if I attend as a Zimbabwean? Isn’t this a platform for Zimbabweans to debate issues and is it a crime to attend?” retorted Bvudzijena.
Veterai said:“I cannot comment because it will be in violation of a code of conduct I signed. Copac will expel me outrightly.” Mudede, too, could not be reached for comment although the MDCs have previously accused him of being biased towards Zanu PF when, as a civil servant, he is expected to remain neutral and apolitical.
Mudede’s role in the drafting of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which is currently in Parliament awaiting approval, has also been subject of conflict among different political parties in view of his role as registrar of voters, with mainly the MDCs pushing for the clipping of his wings during electoral processes.
Efforts to contact him since last Friday hit a brickwall with officials in his office initially saying he was attending meetings and later promising to call back, which they never did until the time of going to print. Also on the list is journalist-cum-businessman Supa Mandiwanzira, who is listed as Zanu PF delegate number 164.
The former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation news anchor and director of newly-established AB Communications, which runs Zi-FM, was evasive when reached for comment yesterday. Early this year, Mandiwanzira was co-opted into the Zanu PF Manicaland provincial executive as treasurer.
Zanu PF Copac co-chair Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana professed ignorance over the matter yesterday.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“I check the list every day and I have not seen their names,” said Mangwana.
However, MDC-T spokesperson and Copac co-chair Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the development, saying: “It’s up to Zanu PF to choose people who can represent them or misrepresent them. What we are happy about is people have shown their true colours. We don’t mind who comes representing what political party and it is not for us to determine the representatives of other parties.”
