adminfee. Another anomally raised was that the current executive established fake districts to ensure that they win the elections. It was noted that senior members in the province who were not supposed to conduct the elections were on the forefront of supervising the polls. Party members who spoke to the Herald confirmed that the elections were conducted in contrast to the circular submitted to all provinces by the party’s political commissar Cde Webster Shamu. A member of the War Veterans
Association Retired Colonel Mutero Masanganise told the Herald that the DCC elections were only for the rich and not for the poor.
“It is a fact that party members were asked to pay money for them to qualify to stand as candidates for any DCC position. Provincial members and other senior party members were not allowed to supervise elections but senior members such as Central Committee Member Cde Mandebvu, provincial chairman Cde Lovemore Matuke and and provincial member Cde Zebron Masunda participated in the elections,” he said.
Col Masanganise said there was massive rigging in the way the elections were conducted in some districts. In some districts, he said, the elections were conducted at night and on verifying the ballot papers it turned out that they were all signed by one person.
Other party members from Gutu had since written letters to the acting provincial commissar who is also the provincial vice chairman only identified as Cde Mtandwa complaining about the irregularities.
A letter written by Dr Paul Chimedza showed that there were a considerable number of non-existent districts that were formed to ensure victory for certain preferred candidates.
“I wish to register a strong protest on the way the restructuring process and the Gutu DCC elections are being done in Gutu especially in Gutu South and West. In ward 28 a fake district was created (the so called 28B) when wind got to the old DCC that the next DCC executive was going to be elected by the entire 102 district executives. This is a situation where a branch was converted into a district by three people sitting under a tree and writing down loyalists to a certain candidate who happened to be the political commissar in the old DCC.
‘‘This is a floating district formed for the purpose of the DCC elections and has neither branches nor cell structures to support its existence as required by the party constitution,” reads part of the letter.
In another letter to Cde Mtandwa, Cde Tongai Muzenda who is also vying for the DCC chairmanship position bemoaned the creation of non-existent districts.
“A few days prior to the elections several fake districts were created obviously for the sake of shifting vote distribution to those with power of controlling the Gutu district. “Examples of these ‘new’ districts include those in Gutu West namely 6b in the Gapare area and 29b in the Mushaviri area. These districts did not exist before in the ordinary running of business but mushroomed just before the elections,” he said.
He said the party should do away with the scourge of imposition of candidates if it was to win the next election.
Online Reporter