‘I touched a raw nerve’ on Zanu PF rigging says Komichi

By Tichaona Sibanda

Senator Morgan Komichi, the MDC-T’s deputy national chairman, has said he ‘touched a raw nerve’ when he exposed the way ZANU PF was going to rig the July 31st elections. 

Komichi was last week sentenced to 350 hours of community service after being found guilty of fraud and contravening the country’s electoral laws. He spent 100 days locked up at the Chikurubi maximum security prison during his incarceration.

The senator was arrested in July on two charges of fraud and contravening the Electoral Act, after he was given stray ballot papers found in a bin at the Harare International Conference Centre and handed them over to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) officials. The ballot papers were to be used during the special vote in the run up to the 31 July elections.

Komichi, who lost his appeal against both conviction and sentence told SW Radio Africa on Monday that his conscience is clear that he did not commit any crime. He accused ZANU PF of practising ‘politics of hatred.’

The senator claimed the ruling party used him as an example so that no one in future will have the guts to expose electoral rigging.

‘ZANU PF fabricated the whole thing to fix me because I exposed their rigging machinery before the elections. I must have touched a raw nerve judging by the way the system came down hard on me,’ he said.

He continued: ‘I’m actually at peace with myself because nothing was ever proven that I committed any fraud or contravened the electoral laws. What they did was to shoot the messenger.’

Komichi pointed to the fact that even during his trial ZEC officials gave conflicting testimonies and wondered how the courts came to the conclusion that he was guilty.

‘As far as I’m concerned I was convicted to please those that operated ZANU PF’s rigging machinery. Today (Monday) I started my community service at Mabelreign clinic, cleaning the yard, using a wheelbarrow and a shovel to ensure the place looks tidy.

‘If they think they are humiliating me, they are wrong. I have come out of prison 10 times stronger, battled hardened and raring to go to fight for justice and democracy in Zimbabwe,’ Komichi added.

The senator said he was surprised there was upheaval in the MDC-T with people seemingly blaming party leader Morgan Tsvangirai for the dismal showing at the polls.

‘I want to urge the MDC-T family to remain united. People should not lay any blame on anybody. The only person who deserves to be blamed is Robert Mugabe for rigging the elections,’ he said. SW Radio Africa