The opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has dismissed the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s (ZEC) move to declare five ZANU PF candidates duly elected as members of the local authorities ahead of the 03 February 2024 by-elections.
ZEC made the declaration following the 19 January 2024 High Court order that nullified the nomination of the CCC candidates to contest the wards.
The wards are as follows: Chiredzi Town Council’s Wards 6 and 7, Harare Municipality’s Wards 5 and 18, and Manyame RDC Ward 7.
In a statement, CCC national spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi said ZEC rushed its decision as the stipulated timeline for the party to lodge its appeal with the Supreme Court has not yet lapsed. Said Mkwananzi:
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) wishes to inform members of the public that the statement by the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) alleging that our candidates have been barred and therefore ZANU PF candidates have been duly elected following the High Court ruling of the 19th of January 2024 is false, inaccurate, misleading and premature.
We are still well within the stipulated timeline to lodge our appeal with the Supreme Court as provided for by the law.
We are going to lodge the appeal within the stipulated timeframe and our candidates, voters, supporters, and members of the public are advised to forge on with their campaigns and preparations as planned and scheduled.
We urge the Zimbabwe Election Commission to endeavour to acquit itself with the highest level of professionalism, independence, and objectivity.
We do not expect the electoral management body to recklessly jump the gun in matters of such national significance as this further diminishes ZEC’s already questioned standing as credible arbiter in national electoral contestations-a point already belaboured by the opposition, civil society, and all electoral observer missions that participated in the disputed August 23, 2023, general elections.
According to ZEC, the following ZANU PF local authority candidates have won their seats unopposed:
- Costen Mombe – Chiredzi Town Council Ward 6
- Brighton Nyashadzashe Mahiya – Chiredzi Town Council Ward 7
- Abdurrahman Sapa – Harare Municipality Ward 5
- Rufaro Daniel Matsika – Harare Municipality Ward 18
- Simbarashe Ngarande – Manyame RDC Ward 7.
In other news – Selmor Mtukudzi shares her father Oliver Mtukudzi’s lobola list he paid in Rhodesia dollars
Popular Zimbabwean musician Selmor Mtukudzi has posted her late father Oliver Mtukudzi’s roora/lobola (bride price) list his in-laws asked him to pay when he married his first wife, Melody Murape.
Melody Murape is Selmor’s mother. According to a calculation done by 3-mob.com, Mtukudzi was asked to pay 523 Rhodesian dollars. At the time the roora list was drafted (1978), one British pound was equivalent to two Rhodesian dollars, which translates to a total of GBP262.50. Read More
