Hwange (New Ziana) – Scores of prospective voters in the ZANU PF primary elections in Hwange were barred from voting on Saturday because their names were not in the local party cell registers.
They accused local party officials of either manipulating the cell registers, or incompetency for their missing names in the cell registers.
Only party members with names in local cell registers were allowed to vote in the elections, meant to choose candidates to stand on the party’s ticket for parliamentary and local government elections later in
the year.
Several prospective voters said they had been turned away in Hwange because their names did not appear in the local cell registers.
“I came here very early, but it is unfortunate that I failed to cast my vote. I am one of the loyal party members in Hwange, but I am surprised my name is missing in the register,” Mildred Ndlovu, one of the party
members barred from voting, said.
Priscar Sibanda, a candidate for Ward nine, said most voters in her area were missing in the party local cell register, and therefore failed to vote.
“I really do not know what happened, but I have proof that I had registered with most of the party members,” she said.
While the affected party members suspected tampering with the cell registers, a top local ZANU PF leader said he believed the aggrieved people had not registered.
Jonathan Mathe, Lwendulu district commissar in charge of registering members in cell registers, said the only explanation for the missing names was that the members had not registered in the first place.
“Most of the people who were turned away were not forthcoming when we were registering party members.The party leadership encouraged us to be authentic, clear and we work using the systems; most of these members
who are complaining want to support the party on Whatsapp platform and do not want to do things physically,” he said.
Other than this hiccup, voting in and around Hwange went on smoothly, with polling centers opening fairly early around 8AM.
The vote was scheduled for 7AM to 4PM.
Public Nkomo, the returning officer for Hwange Central constituency, said no disturbances or interruptions had been experienced.
“We have not reported cases of violence , although there have been hiccups when it comes to missing names for voters who had registered prior to the primary elections,” he said.
New Ziana
