WASHINGTON DC - The opposition Citizens Coalition For Change claims that Zanu PF activists pitched several "bush polling sites" in Matabeleland South where they allegedly forced senior citizens to surrender their identity documents and vote for the ruling former liberation movement.
One of the CCC activists captured a video showing some senior citizens talking to a group of suspected Zanu PF activists before casting their votes in Matobo’s Ward 2.
Some of the people said to be Zanu PF representatives were overheard telling two women to “vote appropriately” and “remember that we will give you food and other items”.
The opposition party said in a tweet, “In Insiza, Zanu PF set up desk points outside each of the 4 polling stations where voters were forced to disclose the candidate they had voted for. We complained & the desks were moved but not disbanded. We demand #ElectoralReforms.”
Gift Ostallos Siziba, CCC deputy spokesperson, said there is need for Zimbabwe to implement electoral reforms before the 2023 general elections.
He said, “What we have captured is an indication that elections are not free and fair in Zimbabwe. This is the evidence needed by the Southern African Development Community and the African Union indicating that there is widespread electoral fraud in Zimbabwe.”
The ruling Zanu PF party has dismissed these reports as “wishful thinking” saying there are provisions in the Electoral Act for people, who can’t read and write, to get help.
Elifasi Mashaba, a Zanu PF Central Committee member, said, “Opposition parties like CCC always cry foul when they bite the dust in any election. They were beaten clean and are now clutching at straws trying to come up with flimsy reason for their loss. We can’t listen to these crybabies.”
Zanu PF won five out of six contested council seats at the weekend in by-elections held in Insiza, Matobo, Buhera, Takawira and Guruve. CCC won in Mutare.