There was chaos Sunday at a Zanu PF provincial coordinating committee meeting at Chinhoyi University of Technology when some youth from Makonde area demonstrated against imposition of candidates by senior party officials.
The youths, numbering more than 100, fingered Deputy Information Minister Kindness Paradza as one of the people failing to hold free and fair district elections.
Lazurus Meki, a youth from Mhangura, accused Paradza of alleged election rigging claiming that his interference has led to the abandonment of the exercise in some areas.
Some of the people who staged a public protest demanding the holding of free and fair Zanu PF elections.
"All what we want is fair play in these district elections. We are appealing to the DCC (District Coordinating Committee) chairperson Paradza to go back and hold free and fair elections in Mhangura," said Meki.
Paradza refused to comment, referring questions to acting provincial chairperson, Abhiya Mujeri, who admitted that Mhangura is one of the 26 areas where the electoral process has not been fully conducted.
"We are aware that Mhangura is one of the 26 areas where district elections are still to be concluded because there are many issues. So, there is no need for the youth to demonstrate. We are also aware of that some senior members within the party are funding the youths to demonstrate," he said.
Zanu PF spokesperson, Christopher Mutsvangwa, said the youth’s demonstrations were uncalled for as the Sunday meeting was only about people submitting their profiles ahead of provincial elections.
"People should not normally come and disturb a meeting which has been going on. This was just an administrative meeting, just procedures about how the elections are going. It was not about selection of candidates. It was about submission of names. There was no cause to demonstrate," said Mutsvangwa.
There was violence at Zanu PF districts elections in most provinces and some members took each other to court in Manicaland and Harare, claiming that the party elections were not conducted fairly.