A ruling ZANU PF party official has raised concern over a preliminary delimitation report by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
ZANU PF Mashonaland East provincial chairperson Daniel Garwe recently said ZEC conducted the delimitation process without consulting them. He said:
We can’t glorify ZEC when it is changing boundaries like this. One who stays in ward 5 is now going to vote in Mutoko, you live in Hwedza and you now vote in Marondera Central. What kind of nonsense is that?
What they (ZEC) want is that where you used to walk five kilometres to vote you now walk 10km or 15km.
They didn’t consult us, they told us what they had done. That’s not consultation.
On Tuesday last week, two pro-ZANU PF organisations, MenBelievED and the Association of Rural Districts Councils of Zimbabwe held separate Press conferences in Harare to criticise the ZEC report.
MenBelievED spokesperson Timothy Nyakudzuka said ZEC did not consult citizens during the delimitation exercise therefore the process was flawed.
The ZEC preliminary delimitation report shows that some rural districts have lost wards to peri-urban areas and growth points.
Traditionally, ZANU PF has won more votes in rural wards and constituencies while the opposition has been dominant in urban areas.
For instance, in Mashonaland East Province, Chikomba and Hwedza districts lost a constituency each while Seke had one added.
Another constituency, Ruwa, was also added to the province. | NewsDay