Vanquished G40 disputes election

Source: Vanquished G40 disputes election – DailyNews Live

Blessings Mashaya      8 May 2017

HARARE – The Zanu PF faction which is rabidly opposed to Vice President
Emmerson Mnangagwa succeeding President Robert Mugabe is fighting to have
the result of the party’s Masvingo leadership election at the weekend
nullified, after its candidate boycotted the poll.

This comes as the contestant who quit the poll at the last minute, Mutero
Masanganise – who is linked to the embattled Generation 40 (G40) camp –
confirmed to the Daily News yesterday that he would be taking his matter
up with the party’s legal department, with a view to having the election
invalidated.

In the hotly-disputed poll, Masanganise was crushed by alleged Team
Lacoste kingpin, Ezra Chadzamira, who polled 29 543 votes against his
measly 1 080 votes.

But the fuming Masanganise accused some politburo members yesterday of
having allegedly connived with his rivals in the volatile province to
“engineer” his downfall.

“I made it clear before, that I will follow the party’s procedures as I
respect the party’s constitution. I am going to submit my letter (of
objection) to the party’s legal department.

“I think those who voted for me were voting for a ghost because I was not
part of that election. There were some senior members who were campaigning
for my opponent.

“I said it before that the use of my name was mischievous, illegal and
scandalous. It is important to note that I was never a party to the
manipulated process.

“To me there was no election at all. Those 1 080 votes they gave me were
done to justify their manipulated process.

“Even if you look at these elections, there are many anomalies and I am
also going to put all this in my letter to the legal department.

“We want to unite as Zanu PF for the good of our party ahead of the 2018
elections. I am surprised by the number of people who are said to have
voted because in most areas people refused to participate in this
election,” Masanganise told the Daily News.

Emotions have been running high in the fractious province ever since
Mugabe and the politburo nullified the results from the initial regional
poll, which was won by Chadzamira – amid claims of irregularities,
including people not voting in some districts.

Chadzamira, who is the former regional chairperson and an alleged
Mnangagwa backer, crushed Masanganise then – polling 12 393 votes against
his opponent’s 4 888, amid allegations of rigging and failure by people in
Mwenezi and some parts of Chiredzi to vote.

The politburo later nullified the result and ordered a re-run, to allow
districts that had not voted a chance to cast their votes.

The run-up to Saturday’s election was also marred by allegations of
intimidation made by Masanganise and the G40, who claimed that military
and intelligence personnel had allegedly campaigned for Chadzamira, amid
palpable tension in the restive province.

Last week, the Daily News reported accurately that beleaguered G40 bigwigs
had, as a counter strategy, enlisted the services of a shadowy group known
as “Province 2017”, as they desperately tried to have the crucial
plebiscite cancelled.

The G40 has for some time now been described as being “at sixes and
sevens”, following the pressure that has been brought to bear on its
leading national figures, as well as the suspension of its alleged
provincial kingpins who were ousted from the regional executive last
month.

Sources have also previously told the Daily News that Zanu PF’s ever-fluid
factional and succession politics were changing gear again, as there was
now an apparent realignment of alliances within the warring former
liberation movement – as Mnangagwa’s allies cranked up their assault on
the G40.