The ruling ZANU PF has approached the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) accusing opposition political parties of fraudulent activities during voter registration processes in attempts to rig next year’s elections.
The ruling party is the one that has usually been accused of conniving with ZEC to manipulate electoral outcomes. The accusations resurfaced recently following the appointment, as ZEC commissioner, of Mrs Abigail Millicent Ambrose-Mohadi daughter to former vice president Kembo Mohadi.
According to ZANU PF’s Masvingo youth league secretary Charles Munganasa, the party has already written to ZEC raising issues of electoral fraud.
Munganasa, who was addressing journalists during a Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) press club discussion in Masvingo Tuesday, accused unnamed opposition political parties of busing rural supporters to urban areas. NewZimbabwe.com quotes him as saying:
As the ruling party we have registered our concerns with ZEC because the opposition was doing voter fraud since 2018. They were busing people from rural areas registering them in urban areas where you can find over 10 people registered under the same address because they know that rural communities are our stronghold.
ZANU PF is always ready for elections regardless of any plans by our detractors. We have been winning elections since the 90s and we will always win.
Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Masvingo spokesperson Dereck Charamba distanced his party from Munganasa’s claims, arguing they were “a new political outfit which respects the Constitution.”
ZANU PF is targeting five million votes while the Nelson Chamisa led CCC is eyeing six million.
So far, just over 5.8 million people have registered to vote.