Chamisa raises rigging fears
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa last night raised fears of vote rigging as he urged his supporters to be vigilant and guard their by-election votes.
The polls were marred by reports of intimidation and violence as reports emerged that traditional leaders and Zanu PF activists attempted to influence voters on who to vote for in rural areas.
In a situation report, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) and the Elections Resources Centre (ERC) also raised concern that a number of potential voters could not locate polling stations, or had their names removed from the voters’ roll.
Chamisa raised fears of vote rigging, saying he had received intelligence that there were attempts to manipulate the vote in some Harare constituencies.
“Citizens in Epworth, St Marys, Harare Central, Harare East and Kuwadzana constituencies be vigilant.
“They are trying to pull a fast one there! Beware of the merchants of darkness,” Chamisa said in a Twitter post.
The CCC had warned ahead of the polls that it will jealously guard the vote to prevent vote fraud.
In the 2018 elections, Chamisa accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of stealing his victory to the State House. Chamisa has refused to recognise Mnangagwa’s legitimacy.
Chamisa had earlier on raised suspicions that some polling station were marred by suspicions people whom he alleged may have been deployed for the purposes of vote rigging.
“If you look at the personnel that are manning the whole process they are not known who they are.
“We don’t know where they come from. “They must be known, they must be advertised, publicised in terms of the law.
“The corruption of this country starts with the corruption of the electoral process,” Chamisa said after casting his vote in Kuwadzana 2 Primary School in Kuwadzana East constituency.
“We can’t have yet another disputed election, and if they don’t correct the situation , we have to correct it.
“And we have the citizens, we will correct it. “Zanu does not believe in the vote, it does not believe in the free will and the sovereign will to decide.
“They believe in forcing people, frog marching people, intimidating people and coercing them, to reflect a manufactured and engineered vote.”