A Zanu PF parliamentary aspirant in Mt Pleasant suburb is working with the police to ensure victory against incumbent Jameson Timba of the MDC-T amid reports that some non-resident police members at Tomlinson Depot had been ordered to register in the constituency.
STAFF REPORTER
The aspiring Zanu PF candidate and former district co-ordinating committee chairman Jaison Pasadi confirmed that he was working with police and funding most of the projects, but declined to comment on the “plot” to register all police officers whether they resided in Mt Pleasant or not.
Sources privy to the matter said there was a bigger scheme targeting more than 2 000 votes for Zanu PF from the police force as part of a wider strategy targeting constituencies in Harare currently held by senior MDC-T officials, among them Timba, organising secretary Nelson Chamisa and secretary-general Tendai Biti.
The sources said: “It’s a wider scheme by Zanu PF targeting senior party officials including Biti, Chamisa, Timba and others. They are targeting strategic people and registering non-residents in their constituencies so that if they get more than 10 seats in Harare they will be safe.”
“People will come from other areas and register in the constituencies of senior party officials and what is happening is an indication of what is coming,” the source said.
In Mt Pleasant, Pasadi vowed to win the seat and has opened market stalls in the area with one at Pendenis shopping centre, where a poster of President Robert Mugabe has been put up.
He is also sponsoring a group of police officers’ spouses, known as “Kuyedza”, in their projects while also financing their cross-border trading.
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Pasadi said: “For Kuyedza, we want to create programmes and funds for them to benefit on cross-border trading. It’s not Kuyedza only, but all members of the force in Mt Pleasant and Avondale because we want to help them to get something.”
Asked whether he was indeed sponsoring members of the force to register in his constituency even when they were not residents there, Pasadi said: “I don’t know the police policy, but we are working with wives of officers either in the police or prisons.
“Any officer within our constituency is being assisted with the programme. We are going down to grassroots. We are taking police mostly and that fund is there as an evolving fund.”
Yesterday Timba said he had no problem if the policemen who were being registered in his constituency were genuine residents there, but threatened legal action if it’s proven otherwise.
“The police are tired of empty promises. It took the coming of MDC in the government to start the construction of decent housing at Morris Depot under an MDC minister. The rank and file have been sharing one room divided by curtains at Morris Depot. What is it that Zanu PF can do for them now which they failed to do in 30 years?
