Fierce government critic and preacher Apostle Talent Chiwenga has urged citizens to vote in the upcoming elections, noting that “by not going to vote for the right candidate you have voted for the wrong candidate”.
Zimbabwe will hold by-elections next month while preparing for the harmonised general elections scheduled for 2023.
Chiwenga lashed at citizens who chose not to vote because they accused the ruling Zanu PF party of rigging.
“We have people in Zimbabwe who say, we don’t want to vote because even if we vote, they are going to steal the election. There can never be any stupid citizen than that,” the outspoken cleric said in a video shared on Twitter this week.
“If you study a little bit about political administration, you will realise that there is no one who does not vote technically. Even those who don’t go to vote, they are voting by their absence. It’s called voting by absenteeism. By not going to vote for the right candidate you have voted for the wrong candidate.”
During the last plebiscite, the current President Emmerson Mnangagwa won 50.8% of votes, compared to 44.3% for opposition leader Nelson Chamisa. The results were never endorsed by the opposition.
Prominent journalist Hopewell Chin’ono on Thursday accused the government of Zimbabwe of deliberately failing to issue identity cards to deny prospective voters a chance to participate in the election.
“The Zimbabwean State is deliberately failing to issue Identity Cards to young people. This is a Voter suppression tactic.
“@CCCZimbabwe (Citizens Coalition for Change) really has to be proactive by going to court and get the State compelled to issue these identity cards without which the youths can’t register!” Chin’ono said. Nehanda Radio
His problem is of insulting those who don’t want to register en Vote,his problem is of insulting those who registered to vote en will vote for Zanu pf! His problem is of thinking that he knows it all!