Mphoko begs for Bulawayo votes

By Jeffrey Muvundusi

BULAWAYO – Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko — who has previously insulted vendors and people living with disabilities — has made a passionate appeal to locals for their vote in the forthcoming by-elections.

Mphoko was in Bulawayo at the weekend to drum up support for Zanu PF ahead of the parliamentary by-elections slated for June 10 following the recall of 14 MPs and seven senators from Parliament.

Speaking on his poorly-attended rally at Makokoba, Mphoko appeared less confident that Zanu PF can reclaim the seats despite major opposition parties having pulled out of the contest citing lack of electoral reforms.

“Bulawayo is angry, why are we angry to such an extent of piercing us with a spear? We want to reorganise things that are not well here,” said Mphoko.

Mphoko was interrupted by a man in the crowd who heckled him over jobs and hunger.

He immediately quipped that the unidentified man was probably one of those people he claimed are being sponsored by opposition parties to destabilise the revolutionary party in the city.

“Let him go but warn him,” Mphoko ordered. “There are people who are sponsoring the people of Bulawayo, who don’t stay in the city, who use their money to create confusion for their political and economic interest. Maybe this man is one of those who are being sponsored by these elements,” he said.

Zanu PF’s Tshinga Dube, who has previously failed to win the seat, will battle it out with six other candidates drawn from small parties and an independent on June 10.

Dube could not attend the campaign meeting in Makokoba as he was said to be in India where he is being treated for an undisclosed ailment.

Mphoko appeared to insult the people of Bulawayo when he suggested they fall for “any” candidate as long as they were against Zanu PF.

“What has happened to you our people, even political armatures; those who are trying their luck come to you, why have we turned ourselves into a laughing stock? You are simply angry against yourself,” said Mphoko.

Mphoko has previously angered the people of Matabeleland, especially Bulawayo with his derogatory statements.

The former diplomat angered people in the region when he said the Gukurahundi massacres that left an estimated 20 000 people dead in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces was a conspiracy by the West.

In January he insulted vendors when he suggested vending should be left to people with disabilities while two weeks ago Mphoko said Zanu PF should be represented by people of high calibre not “vendors and lodgers”. Daily News