Zanu-PF members queue to cast their votes at Davies Hall in Bulawayo yesterday
Chronicle Reporters
VOTING in the Zanu-PF primary elections started late yesterday with high turnouts that forced administrators to add another day to the process.
In Bulawayo, voting went on smoothly at all 29 polling stations in the metropolitan province.
There was a high turnout in Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, particularly at Ward One polling station at the party’s provincial headquarters, Davies Hall.
Bulawayo elections team leader, Cde George Nare, said the turnout in Bulawayo surpassed their expectations.
He said a number of people were turned away as the ruling party strictly adhered to the voters roll that was compiled during the cell verification exercise.
At some polling stations some candidates were accused of trying to buy votes and tamper with the cell registers. Some people who were not on the cell register were turned away at various polling stations.
Cde Nare said one of the candidates aspiring to represent the ruling party in the race for the Bulawayo Central National Assembly seat, Cde Raymond Mutomba, was caught trying to tamper with cell registers inside his car at Davies Hall.
“I personally caught Cde Mutomba filling in cell registers and we have raised the issue with the (Zanu-PF) National Elections Directorate, which will handle the matter,” he said.
At Westgate polling station, which falls under Makokoba Constituency, some disgruntled members accused the incumbent MP Cde Tshinga Dube of interfering with the voting process by allegedly influencing elections officials to turn them away. Cde Dube, however, denied the allegations, saying those who were turned away were not in the cell registers.
“I never influenced officials to turn away potential voters. In fact, those who were turned away did not have their names in the cell registers,” he said.
At Elangeni Training Centre, police who were deployed to man the polling station had a torrid moment as they tried to control the huge number of disgruntled people who had been turned away.
Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial commissar Cde Canaan Ncube said the polls went on well.
“The primary elections went on smoothly at all our polling stations and we had a high turnout. I am not sure whether the results will be ready for release tonight (last night)”, he said.
In Matabeleland South province, the voting process kicked off shortly after 2PM in most constituencies.
In an interview, Matabeleland South Provincial Elections Commissioner, Dr Simbi Mubako, said there could be a re-run for contests for parliamentary seats in Insiza North and Gwanda North as some candidates had been omitted on the ballot papers.
“The voting process is running smoothly throughout the province although we started late because the voting material arrived late from Harare. We are trying to complete the voting process today even if it means working late into the night but if we fail there will be a spill over to tomorrow.
“Some candidates were complaining that their names were not appearing on the ballots and we are handling the situation. There might be a possible re-run in the affected constituencies but that will be determined by our National Elections Directorate in Harare. If a candidate was omitted unfairly we will withhold those results,” he said.
Dr Mubako said although some voters were not happy over the issue, they did not engage in acts of violence to vent their anger.
In Matabeleland North, voting started on a low note with only Umguza district going to the polls shortly after midday while ballot papers and election officers were expected to arrive in Bubi district by end of day. In Lupane, election officers were deployed at around 5PM following day-long preparations of the ballots for the local authorities which were not readily available.
The deployment was co-ordinated from the party’s provincial offices in Lupane, which is also being used as the Matabeleland North command centre.
Other districts namely Binga, Hwange, Nkayi and Tsholotsho will go to the polls today when the deployment of election officers and dispatching of voting material is expected to have been completed.
Party officials noted that delays in deployment of election officers were a result of logistical challenges emanating from the distance between the command centre and various polling sites in the vast province.
Retired Air Vice-Marshal Henry Muchena, who is supervising the elections in Matabeleland North, said he would be able to comment on the developments today. There are 191 polling centres in the province based on the party’s districts.
In Masvingo province, the voting exercise started later than scheduled with most of the polling stations having received the ballot papers around lunch time.
In Mwenezi East, the polling stations started with shorter queues but the numbers swelled as the day progressed.
At Rutenga Primary School and the Dutch Reformed Church polling stations in Ward 18, more than 20 voters were turned away after their names were not found in the cell registers.
By 4PM, most polling stations continued to receive voters who wanted to cast their votes in a poll that has over 100 aspiring candidates who battled it out to represent the ruling party in the harmonised elections for National Assembly, Senatorial, Provincial Council, Women Quota and Council seats. Almost all polling stations in Masvingo which included Mwenezi West, Chivi South and Chivi Central, voters registered complaints over missing names in cell registers with some calling for a re-run of the polls.
In the Midlands province, Zanu-PF resolved to postpone the primaries for Mberengwa East, West, South and North constituencies to today due to the delay in the distribution of ballot papers. The ballot papers failed to reach other polling stations in Mberengwa North and West due to logistical problems.
Cde Joram Gumbo is being challenged for the first time by Cde Adam Magida in Mberengwa West.
The ruling party’s Midlands provincial chairman Engineer Daniel McKenzie Ncube confirmed that the voting has been postponed to today. He said the party was also forced to postpone primary elections for Gokwe North and South districts after the helicopter which was expected to deliver the ballot papers delayed.
In Zvishavane, voting was deferred to today in some wards after voters protested against the delay in the delivery of the ballot papers which slowed the voting exercise.
“We have resolved to postpone to tomorrow (today) primaries in Mberengwa and Gokwe. This is because we encountered some logistical challenges in the distribution of the ballot papers. The exercise will start at 7AM tomorrow (today). However, in some parts of the province voting went on well and we did not have any reports of violence. The campaigns were peaceful which shows that the candidates took heed of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s call for peaceful elections,” he said.
Last month, Zanu-PF, in line with its constitution, set up an Elections Commission ahead of the party primaries. The Elections Commission is a nine-member body chaired by the party’s National Commissar Retired Lieutenant-General Engelbert Rugeje.
The members of the Elections Commission did not contest in the primary elections.
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