adminProsper Ndlovu Senior Reporter
THE Member of Parliament for Pelandaba-Mpopoma, Mr Samuel Sandla Khumalo, yesterday described his party’s weekend primary elections as chaotic and scandalous. Mr Khumalo lost the incident packed Sunday election at Mpopoma Hall where another losing candidate, Mr Giyani Dube, reportedly fainted after alleging massive rigging.
Mr Khumalo and six other contestants lost the race to provincial youth leader, Mr Bekithemba Nyathi. He said the voting process was conducted in a “treacherous” manner and vowed to challenge its outcome.
“What happened was a scandal. I do not recognise that election and do not accept its result. The whole process was treacherous. They rigged,” said Mr Khumalo.
“Some of the voters were pupils aged 15 and are not on the party voters’ roll. The electoral college had about 300 people but we ended up having 500. We wonder where the additional voters came from. Yimithezwa (they were bogus voters).”
He said he was shocked by the rot in his party’s electoral process and accused the senior leadership of plotting his downfall.
“As a party we are always disputing the outcome of (national) elections yet we are failing to manage our own internal polls. Where else have you seen an election where some voters are locked out while others are allowed to participate? It shows that some people wanted a pre-determined outcome,” fumed Mr Khumalo.
He said the bid to oust him started in the run up to the party’s 2011 congress, which was characterised by infighting and factionalism.
Said Mr Khumalo: “I have worked with the people of Bulawayo for a long time and a lot of people know me. Politics is a dirty game. The problem started at congress.
“I was arrested in 2011 because some people had plotted against me in order to tarnish my image. Fortunately I was cleared by the courts.”
Mr Khumalo was arrested in March 2011 after being allegedly found in possession of 45 grammes of mbanje.
He was, however, acquitted of the charges in February last year. Asked what he was going to do about the issue, Mr Khumalo said he was going to demand justice through the party’s internal procedures.
“I do not accept what happened but I would follow all the domestic remedies to address this issue,” he said.
Mr Nyathi, however, described the election outcome as the will of the people and said he would not comment on Mr Khumalo’s remarks.
“People made their decision. That was people’s victory. The process was conducted by the national election directorate and I was a participant like Mr Khumalo. I am not aware of his views and therefore cannot comment on that,” he said.
Mr Dube denied that he fainted but admitted that the electoral process was not perfect. “The people who say I fainted are Satanists. That is a political gimmick. What happened is that I was not feeling well and I left the hall and went to my car to rest. The process went well although it had some irregularities,” he said.
Contacted for comment provincial spokesperson Mr Mandlenkosi Sibanda defended the poll outcome.
“I do not know where Khumalo got all that. As far as I am concerned there was tight security there and the people who participated in the poll were less than the total in the electoral college in that area.
“The number of voters was verified and every participant was vetted. Voters were also required to produce IDs. The contestants including Mr Khumalo signed the papers accepting the election result,” said Mr Sibanda.
Observers have said the happenings within the MDC-T were evidence that the party had lost grip in Bulawayo ahead of the next election.
Meanwhile, angry party members from Mpopoma who preferred anonymity also denounced the poll outcome and threatened a bhora musango (protest vote) on the party leadership come election time.
The party members said voters were not accredited and alleged that some voters did not exist in the district records.
They said the presiding officer, former spokesperson for MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, Mr James Maridadi, deliberately ignored complaints by voters who questioned the manner in which things were done. Others said the poll was rigged in favour of Mr Nyathi who is believed to be backed by the MDC-T deputy president, Ms Thokozani Khupe.
The members said contestants were forced to endorse the poll outcome by signing nomination papers before the election process ended.
Online Reporter