Aspiring MDC councillor threatens to shoot supporters

Nqobile Tshili Bulawayo Bureau
AN aspiring MDC-T councillor in Bulawayo allegedly pulled a pistol and threatened to shoot party supporters for allegedly holding primary elections in a constituency he claimed was reserved for youths.

Mr Tinashe Kambarami, who was recently elected to represent the party in the city’s Ward 3, allegedly disrupted MDC-T primary elections in Bulawayo South Constituency on Sunday.

The party was holding primary elections to elect aspiring Members of Parliament and councillors for the area.

An MDC-T insider yesterday said Mr Kambarami disrupted the election, grabbing some of the ballot papers that had been cast.

“He stormed Sizinda Recreational Centre, ordering the party to stop conducting the election claiming that the constituency was on a youth quota and should not be contested,” said the insider.

“He demanded that the elections officer hands over the ballot box to him before producing a gun threatening the election officer.

“The old man, however, did not budge. He (elections officer) tried to leave the premises with the ballot box before Kambarami pushed him, grabbing some of the ballot papers and fleeing with them.”

The insider said some party members tried to apprehend Mr Kambarami, but he allegedly pulled out his gun for the second time.

“He brandished his pistol threatening to shoot anyone who tried to lay their hands on him.

“He jumped into a vehicle and sped off almost running over some of the party supporters who had surrounded his car,” said the source.

Mr Kambarami denied producing a gun, saying party supporters mistook his cellphone for a fire arm.

He claimed he was actually a victim in the chaos for insisting that the party was not supposed to hold elections in the constituency.

“There are some people who were drunk and had been bought to cause commotion.

“They started to wrestle with me and when I removed my cellphone someone said I had pulled a pistol. There was no fire arm as is claimed,” said Mr Kambarami.

MDC-T national chairman Mr Morgen Komichi, addressing a press briefing in Harare yesterday, admitted that violence has characterised the party’s internal polls.