‘Zanu PF does not have capacity to raise 4,5m voters, Mutsvangwa lied’

Zanu-PF’s claim that it has already accumulated more than 4,5 million voters has been described as a lie following the party’s failure to raise 2,5 million voters in 2018.

This comes after Zanu-PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa told the media after an extraordinary politburo session on Monday that the ruling party had amassed 4,5 million registered voters, 500 000 less than its target of five million votes in the upcoming elections.

“Zanu PF rules by consent not by history. This is the hallmark of the second republic. We are already at 4,5 million voters. We have a total of nearly 87 000 cells that have been verified accounting to 4,5 million voters,” he said.

As at June 10, 2022 the country’s registered voters numbered 5 804 975 according to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

If what Mutsvangwa said is correct, it means that 80 percent of the registered voters are Zanu PF members and are most likely to vote for Zanu-PF.

In an interview with Nehanda Radio, political activist and commentator Pride Mkono dismissed Mutsvangwa’s sentiments as grandstanding.

He added that the party that failed to garner 2,5 million votes in 2018 had no capacity to claim 4,5 million voters now.

“That is politicking by Zanu-PF. They can not have more than four million,” Mkono said.

“Any political party can claim any number. Politicians are not mathematicians. Politicians are known for their loud mouths and lying. They have no capacity to have four million supporters when their party failed to garner more than 2,5 million voters in 2018. It’s just political fumbling.

“You can’t mobilize 100 people and tell us that, with the hunger that is in the country, you have four million voters. It’s just grandstanding. That’s what politics is about.”

He further accused Zanu-PF of trying to push an agenda of numbers in order to defend themselves after allegedly rigging the upcoming election.

“Obviously, the broader picture is that they may be pushing an agenda to then say, when ZEC has rigged the election, they then claim that ‘we already have the numbers’.

“At most Zanu-PF has around 500 000 members that are registered and card carrying. So, it’s just political fumbling by Mutsvangwa,” Mkono added.

Zanu-PF is targeting 5 million voters while its rival Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) is expecting 6 million.

Zimbabwe is set to hold harmonised general elections later this year. President Emmerson Mnangagwa is yet to proclaim dates for the plebiscite.