BY NIZBERT MOYO LOSING Zapu Tsholotsho South candidate Leonard Mthombeni has claimed rigging by the ruling Zanu PF party in the March 26 by-elections, and vowed to go all out for victory in elections expected next year.
“We have appointed a committee that will go and demand the voters roll from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) so that we have an opportunity to look at it before the next elections,” Mthombeni told Southern Eye.
“We do not trust Zanu PF. We have discovered that during the March 26 by-elections Zanu PF used the same people to vote twice after giving them two different identity cards. After voting, they would instruct them to go and thoroughly wash their hands, change their clothes and they would come back again to vote.”
He said Zapu had already held two star rallies in the district.
Mthombeni said his party was moving around villages, urging people to unite and expose ghost voters to thwart rigging.
“Tsholotsho is rich in terms of resources but poor in terms of infrastructure. There is a gold mine in ward 16 Dogwe, we want devolution to be implemented as stated in our 2013 Constitution so that locals benefit, not just one party.”
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Zanu PF’s Musa Ncube won the Tsholotsho seat during the 2018 elections after getting 4 759 votes against Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) candidate Tapson Sibanda’s 2 789, while Mthombeni came a distant third with 868 votes.
Matabeleland North Zanu PF chairman Richard Moyo dismissed Mthombeni’s rigging claims as baseless. “How can one person be allowed to vote twice? We should talk about things that bring development,’’ he said.
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