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Sunday Mail Reporters
ZANU PF District Coordinating Committee (DCC) elections got off to a slow start yesterday due to logistical challenges and heavy rains.
The revolutionary party is holding DCC elections in all the eight non-metropolitan provinces as part of its restructuring exercise and enhancing coordination ahead of 2023 elections.
Over 1 200 polling stations have been set up for the elections in which up to 20 posts are up for grabs in each district. In an interview last night, ZANU PF National Political Commissar Cde Victor Matemadanda said logistical challenges had marred the smooth running of the polls.
“Voting is still going on because a lot of districts have not voted yet due to the heavy rains that have been pounding most parts of the country. So there is not much we can say at the moment, but for those that have not finished, we have given them until noon tomorrow so that they can finish.”
Speaking in Gweru where he is leading the party’s elections team in the Midlands Province, ZANU PF acting spokesperson Cde Patrick Chinamasa said voting will spill into today.
“We had logistical challenges which will likely see our elections spilling into the next day. We had areas like Gokwe where some polling agents failed to reach their polling station due to flooded rivers,” he said.
Cde Chinamasa, who was accompanied by ZANU PF Secretary for the Women’s League, Cde Mabel Chinomona and Secretary for Legal Affairs, Cde Paul Mangwana, said election results will likely be announced tomorrow at the National Elections Command Centre in Harare.
In Mashonaland West, the elections commenced late in most parts of the province due to delays in the delivery of ballots. Some polling stations had not received ballot papers by 5 pm. ZANU PF Secretary for External Affairs, Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, who is leading the party’s election supervisory team in Mashonaland West province, said:
“We have since deployed our polling teams to all the 352 polling stations. We are still receiving feedback from them. I cannot comment at the moment on whether the election will spill over to tomorrow (today). “We shall confirm tomorrow.”
In Kariba district, elections got off to a slow start amid logistical challenges in the transportation of ballot material to Nyaminyami rural as some rivers were impassable owing to the rains. There were 14 polling stations in Nyaminyami and three in Kariba urban.
Elections could not go ahead at the 86 polling stations in Hurungwe District resulting in voting being deferred to start today. Head of ZANU PF’s supervisory team in Matabaleland South, Cde Sthembiso Nyoni, said voting had not been completed in most districts.
In Mashonaland Central, the elections progressed smoothly in most districts. A total of 403 candidates are contesting, with voting taking place at 273 centres across the province. At Chiwaridzo polling centre in Bindura, voters queued from early in the morning and the process had a few anomalies. However, there were challenges in areas such as Shamva and Mbire.
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