Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo yesterday dismissed claims by former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono that some people were blocking his bid to become Senator for Manicaland.
Moyo said in a statement that Dr Gono was displaying ignorance of the law since it was clear that he was not registered as a voter in any ward in Manicaland, a requirement for any individual aspiring to the post.
“It is abundantly self-evident that, by any means available or not Dr Gono is desperate to be Senator for Manicaland province, a provincial parliamentary seat he apparently mistakes for Buhera district,” he said.
“This explains why he has become so emotional and reckless about his comments to the point of displaying his ignorance of the law in public.”
Moyo said it was clear that when Dr Gono sought and was given by the Register General a confirmation of transfer of his voter registration from a constituency in Harare to Buhera West in on December 5 last year, the confirmation was illegal because the RG’s office had ceased to have the legal authority to do such work.
He said the transfer of powers to register voters was not done by Dr Gono’s detractors as he alleged, but came out of the new Constitution and was a matter with nothing to do with real or imagined factionalism in Zanu-PF.
Moyo criticised Dr Gono for accusing President Mugabe of leading a faction in Zanu-PF.
Dr Gono was quoted in the media yesterday as saying that he belonged a faction led by President Mugabe.
“It is preposterous and objectionable in the extreme for Dr Gono to claim that he is “remaining out of all factions except that of and led by the President,” said Moyo.
“President Mugabe does not have and does not lead a faction. The President leads Zanu-PF, the Government and the nation of Zimbabwe.
“In other words, President Mugabe leads not some, but all of us Zimbabweans. An aspiring Senator is ordinarily expected to understand this basic fact.”
Moyo said Dr Gono’s statement indicating that most institutions and agencies of the State in the country operated on factional lines was “an outlandishly exaggerated and inflammatory statement whose inciting borders on subversion”.
Dr Gono’s bid to become Senator for Manicaland following the death of Kumbirai Kangai in August last year hit a snag when the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission wrote to Zanu-PF indicating that he was not a registered voter in Manicaland.
He was not on the original party list of candidates nominated by Zanu-PF to take up senatorial seats in Manicaland through proportional representation.
This week Gono said he would not join any Zanu PF faction to fast-track his Senate appointment.
The Zanu PF politburo has ratified the decision, with only a handful of ruling party hawks opposing Gono.
The electoral agency said the retired governor did not qualify because he was not a registered voter for any ward in Manicaland as demanded by the law.
But Gono said he duly transferred from Harare to Buhera West on December 5, 2013.
“The Registrar Generals Office gave me confirmation of transfer which Zec has got,” he told the Daily News yesterday.
“Why the two organisations cannot manage transitions and authenticate transfers between themselves boggles the mind.
“It is clear that someone from outside the province is playing games hoping that they can torpedo the Zanu PF politburo and Manicaland Province as well as Buhera district’s choice. Fortunately, I have all the patience in the world to wait for whoever needs to do their job to do it even if it means waiting till 2018, 2023 or beyond.”
