Losing ZANU PF Council Candidate Reclaims Donation

The ZANU PF candidate for Ward 2 in Plumtree in the 23-24 August 2023 general elections, Richard Khumalo, has been accused of demanding goal posts which he donated to a school in the area after he lost to Zanele Ndlovu of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).

According to a message posted on a community WhatsApp group, Khumalo wants to uproot the goalposts he donated to Matiwaza Primary School. Read the text:

A losing Plumtree councilor, who contested on a ZANU PF ticket in the just ended August 23 harmonised plebiscite has gone on a rampage demanding all his donations from the public…

The text also said Khumalo demanded to be reimbursed for the money, which he used to transport the goalposts to the school.

When contacted for a comment by the Southern Eye, Khumalo did not deny the charges but claimed that the facts had been distorted.

He said the school approached him seeking assistance to purchase the goalposts. Said Khumalo:

I agreed to their request but told them my goalposts were far out of town and needed transport to ferry them to the school.

We then made an arrangement that they provide their own transport to get them.

A meeting organised by the school development committee was held where it was agreed that each parent would contribute US$1 towards hiring a vehicle to ferry the material.

Khumalo said that he hired one of his friends for US$150 to transport the material on condition that he would be paid upon delivery. He said:

Three months down the line, they have not paid for the transport. They influenced each other that I was campaigning under a ZANU PF ticket, leading to some parents not paying for the transport fare as previously agreed.

He said that as there was no official handover, he remained the owner of the goalposts. Said Khumalo:

They need to pay the money so that there will be an official handover.

They should not mix the issue of goalposts and our politics… they should just pay the person, who ferried the goalposts his money.

Khumalo is not the first ZANU PF losing candidate seeking to reclaim a donation since the 2023 Harmonised Elections.

ZANU PF candidate for Chinhoyi Constituency, Thomas Chidzomba, dismantled the equipment for a borehole he had drilled for the community after losing to a CCC candidate.

Less than three days after the results of the August 2023 elections were announced, Chidzomba took the surprising step of dismantling the borehole.

Initially, he had locked the borehole, but later he made the decision to remove the equipment altogether.

More: Pindula News