Sibangilizwe wins Byo nomination

SIBANGILIZWE Nkomo, the son of the late Zapu founding leader Joshua Nkomo, on Saturday won the Bulawayo nomination to contest for the Zapu party presidency, making him the leading contender.

This means that Nkomo now leads the nominations in nine provinces, with Harare being the only province that is yet to vote.

The Harare nominations have been mired by disputes.

Zapu is preparing to hold its elective congress on October 29 and 30 in Bulawayo.

Party secretary for mobilisation and organisation Dereck Katsenga yesterday said the Bulawayo province nominations were held on Saturday, adding that Nkomo emerged victorious.

“Bulawayo held its conference yesterday (Saturday) and Sibangilizwe Michael Nkomo got 158 votes, Strike Mkandla got 14 votes and Sithembiso Mpofu got 14 votes,”

Katsenga said.

“Harare is going to hold its provincial conference today (yesterday) and the results will be announced by the end of the day,” he said.

Zapu secretary for information and publicity Mandla Khanye said the Bulawayo elections were held peacefully, with 11 out of 12 districts in attendance.

“Only one district, Bulawayo South, abstained. The elections were conducted and supervised by a committee of council of elders, with elder Mike Bathandi Mpofu acting as the presiding officer.

“The presidential candidates nominated by districts were Mpofu, Nkomo and Mkandla. The vote was conducted through secret ballot and Nkomo emerged the winner. However, there were several spoilt ballot papers,” Khanye said.

Reports state that delays in the nomination process in Harare were due to squabbling.