Zanu PF cheating ahead of Zimbabwe election

By Lance Guma

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CHIMANIMANI – President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party is being accused of cheating in advance of elections this year with officials from the Registra General’s office allegedly making it hard for known MDC-T supporters to register to vote.

MDC-T Treasurer General Roy Bennett, a former MP for Chimanimani said “People from Old Location and rural areas that do not have proof of residence are going to register, they are then sent to get a stamped document from the council and are charged one dollar.”

In contrast “Zanu PF youth chair Joshua Sacco”s 30 tonne “Gonyete” Registration number ABN 7717 Blue Freight Liner, which is ferrying 250 people at a time to the Registration office. They are going straight in and getting ID’s and registering as voters. This is a tip of the iceberg country wide,” he said.

Bennett who famously pushed Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa to the floor in parliament has endured arrests, beatings, torture and prolonged periods of detention before he decided to go into exile. This week he urged Zimbabweans to “keep shinning lights in the dark corners of Zanu PF’s desperation.”

At the inception of the unity government in 2009, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai appointed Bennett to serve as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture. Mugabe refused to swear him in claiming he faced treason charges. But even after Bennett was cleared of those charges Mugabe still refused to swear him in.

Meanwhile the MDC-T and other parties continue to ignore warnings about going into another election with a Zimbabwe Electoral Commission whose secretariat is still stuffed with former soldiers and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) officials who are fiercely loyal to Mugabe and his Zanu PF party.