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ticket for both council and parliamentary polls in the forthcoming harmonised election.
MDC-T was also forced to delay the submission of nomination papers for the two districts after it failed to get candidates.
The constituencies where MDC-T failed to get nominations include Mwenezi East, Mwenezi West, Chiredzi North and Chiredzi East.
Sources said the party was also battling to fill a number of council slots owing to lack of support in the two districts.
The MDC-T, sources said, had since resolved to restart the nomination process and offer financial rewards to encourage prospective candidates to take up the daunting task of breaking into the two districts dominated by Zanu-PF.
Although the sources could not be drawn into revealing the exact amount of the rewards, it is believed that the prospective candidates were promised money running into thousands of dollars if they agreed to contest on the party’s ticket.
MDC-T also promised to bankroll campaigns for the prospective candidates with huge amounts of cash.
In addition, the candidates would receive a “morale-boosting” visit by MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai to drum up support for them in the constituencies.
“The MDC-T is offering lucrative perks to candidates who will contest for the party in the council and parliamentary elections in Mwenezi and Chiredzi districts because we have been struggling to get candidates in these areas owing to lack of support and dominance of Zanu-PF,” said an MDC-T insider in Masvingo.
“No one wanted to come up and contest on our ticket, so we came up with a plan to offer incentives. We hope this will arouse interest among those who were reluctant to be associated with us.”
MDC-T Masvingo provincial spokesperson Mr Harrison Mudzuri conceded that his party had problems in penetrating parts of Mwenezi and Chiredzi, but denied that his party had offered cash to encourage people to stand for the party.
Mr Mudzuri said there was nothing wrong for his party to “prioritise certain things” in their campaign strategy. “It is common knowledge that in a game of soccer if a coach sees that there is a problem at the back, midfield or front, then he or she will concentrate on that area in order to fix the problem,” he said.
Online Reporter