adminTHE ruling Zanu-PF party yesterday commenced district elections although they were postponed in most provinces because a number of members are attending the Pre-Budget Seminar in Victoria Falls.
Zanu-PF national spokesperson Cde Simon Khaya Moyo confirmed the latest developments, saying they were forced to postpone in some of the provinces as they felt it would be unfair to go ahead with elections when some members were committed elsewhere.
“As you might know, members are scattered everywhere. Some are attending the pre-budget meeting in Victoria Falls while others are committed with other pressing responsibilities so we were forced to postpone the elections in some of these areas.
“However, in the areas where elections were held, our preliminary findings show that everything went smoothly although we are waiting for the final reports. What I should emphasise, however, is that this won’t be a one day process but we will push that all the district elections are conducted so that we then move to conducting the provincial,” said Cde Khaya Moyo.
In Bulawayo voting started in the morning but some districts will be voting today and results are expected later in the evening. The provincial secretary for administration, Cde Nacisio Makhulumo, said they hit the ground running with elections going on well.
“We want to ensure that we get the proper party structures through these elections so that we get all votes come the 2018 general elections,” he said.
When a Sunday News crew visited some districts in Matabeleland North voting was ongoing peacefully although in most venues it started late. In an interview with Sunday News, Matabeleland North provincial chairperson Cde Richard Moyo said teams were busy on the ground and they were expecting to have completed the voting process in all districts save for Umguza which is expected to complete by today.
“Everything is going according to plan. Teams that were deployed to oversee the elections around the province are busy as we speak and we expect to have completed the process by end of day. However, in Umguza the process will spill over to tomorrow (today) but by Monday we should be having our final list of elected officials,” said Cde Moyo.
In Lupane, the party’s provincial secretary for gender and culture, Cde Robson Ncube said although they started late everything was going on smoothly. In Matabeleland South Province, Zanu-PF acting provincial chairperson Cde Rabelani Choeni said elections were postponed as some of the members were attending the Pre-Budget Seminar in Victoria Falls.
“The province had to cancel the exercise because some of the provincial members who were supposed to supervise the exercise were committed somewhere. Some of the members are Parliamentarians who are attending the pre-budget meeting in Victoria Falls,” said Cde Choeni.
The district elections are expected to pave way for the party’s provincial elections ahead of the Annual National People’s Conference set for Victoria Falls in December.
derick.khumalo
Online Reporter