‘Zanu-PF satisfied with BVR figures’ . . . party warns members against violence
THE ruling Zanu-PF in Masvingo has expressed satisfaction with more than 600 000 people who have registered under the Biometric Voter Registration exercise in the province.
Indications are that the number of registered voters will increase as it did not include people that registered under the BVR mop-up exercise in the province.
Speaking on the sidelines of a provincial executive council meeting held over the weekend, to take stock of progress in the BVR exercise in the province, Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial chair Cde Ezra Chadzamira said the party leadership in the province was happy with the number of registered voters.
“We are still to get the actual figures of the number of people who registered under the BVR mop-up exercise in the province, but so far from our own assessment more than 600 000 people have registered in the province under BVR,’’ he said.
“The latest figures that we have show that we are around 74 percent of our target of about 90 percent, but obviously the figure will go up when those who registered under the mop-up exercise are factored in.’’ ZANU-PF Masvingo provincial chairman Cde Ezra Chadzamira has warned ruling party members against engaging in political violence, saying those caught on the wrong side of the law will be arrested irrespective of their position in the party.
He said the ruling party was guided by calls by President Mnangagwa that political violence had no place in the country as Zimbabwe gears for upcoming harmonised elections. Addressing ruling party supporters in Bikita recently, Cde Chadzamira said there would be no sacred cows when dealing with perpetrators of political violence.
“Our leader President Mnangagwa has been making clarion calls for peaceful elections,” he said. “The President has strongly stated that there is no room for political violence here in Zimbabwe and has even highlighted that message at various international fora that the new Government condemns all forms of violence as the nation braces for elections.
Cde Chadzamira paid tribute to ruling party structures in the province for
‘’I am happy that President Mnangagwa’s message has been loud and clear that perpetrators of political violence will be dealt with without fear or favour, there will be no sacred cows.’’
Cde Chadzamira said police were on the lookout for perpetrators of political violence ahead, during and after the harmonised polls. “The police have already been given a task to decisively deal with political violence, we condemn political
mobilising people to register as voters under the BVR exercise. violence from whatever source and the message of non-violence does not apply to ZANU-PF members alone, but also to members of the opposition, the law will be applied fairly,’’ he said.
Cde Chadzamira said President Mnangagwa has already expressed willingness to invite the international community to observe the forthcoming elections, a sign of his seriousness to have free, fair and credible polls, devoid of violence. He reiterated that the ruling party would not condone the imposition of candidates during primary elections to choose those who will represent ZANU-PF in the forthcoming harmonised elections.
“ZANU-PF is a democratic party and leaders in the party are chosen by the people,” said Cde Chadzamira. “People should be allowed to choose leaders of their choice and there will be no imposition of candidates. However, people should also be wary of selfish leaders who do not bring any meaningful development once they have been elected into office.’’
Some of the prospective voters in areas such as Mwenezi and Chiredzi failed to register under the new system because of lack of identity documents.
Cde Chadzamira said the ruling party was pulling out all the stops to make sure the revolutionary party and its presidential candidate, President Mnangagwa, win resoundingly in the forthcoming harmonised elections.
“It’s all systems go and we have been strengthening our structures at all levels of the party from the cells to make sure we are in good stead to win resoundingly,” he said.
“Masvingo is a known Zanu-PF stronghold and we want to make sure the ruling party and our presidential candidate President Mnangagwa garner as much votes as possible in the province as that will set the tone for a crushing electoral victory nationwide.’’
Cde Chadzamira said Zanu-PF was angling to retain all the 26 House of Assembly seats that were won by the revolutionary party in the last election held in 2013.
He said the overwhelming response to the ruling party voter registration mobilisation campaign was testament to Zanu-PF’s bright chances of registering a landslide victory in the coming elections.
The ruling party swept clean all the House of Assembly seats in Masvingo in the last election in 2013.