via Violence mars Zanu PF restructuring exercise – NewsDay Zimbabwe October 27, 2015
Kasukuwere, however, professed ignorance about the violent encounters.
“Although I haven’t received such reports, we do not condone violence . . . but sometimes, it shows how popular the party is in the country,” he said.
The violence allegedly broke out when members of Generation 40, or G40 faction, accused their rivals of rigging the elections after they were walloped in 12 out of the city’s 13 wards.
Several party members were reportedly injured and rushed to Kadoma General Hospital following the skirmishes, which were also witnessed by provincial executive members, among them Public Service minister Prisca Mupfumira and Senate president Edna Madzongwe.
The G40, believed to be campaigning for First Lady Grace Mugabe, is reportedly battling with another faction reportedly led by Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the race to succeed President Robert Mugabe.
Some party members accused Mupfumira of using food meant for drought relief to buy votes for her faction.
Mupfumira, however, refuted the allegations, but told NewsDay she had a bone to chew with some party members in Kadoma.
“Who told you that? . . . If you don’t provide me with names, how can I tell if I know them?
. . . So far, I don’t know unless somebody abused food that was meant for the people and that is beyond me. Actually, I have a case with the Kadoma people because they labelled me as the First Lady’s witch at a funeral recently,” Mupfumira said.
On violence, Mupfumira said: “I even advised Kasukuwere in the morning to stop elections in Kadoma because people there are violent, maybe because he doesn’t know the area . . . even during deployment, there was violence.”
The Zanu PF restructuring exercise was littered with violence in most parts of Mashonaland West province, with elections in some districts being postponed following allegations of vote-buying and bussing-in of ineligible voters.
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