ZANU PF is being accused of vote buying ahead of the Cowdray Park local government by-election slated for tomorrow.<\/p>\n
This was after Vice President Kembo Mohadi donated 60 tonnes of maize and 30 tonnes of rice to Cowdray Park residents at a rally last week.<\/p>\n
Zanu PF\u2019s rivals are now alleging \u201cvote buying\u201d, with MDC Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Felix Mafa questioning why the donation was only meant for Cowdray Park residents out of all suburbs in the second city.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can a party just want to give the people of Cowdray Park all that food because there is an election?…
\n\u201cWe strongly condemn this kind of behaviour by Zanu PF; its clear President (Emmerson) Mnangagwa has not broken with Mugabe\u2019s past,\u201d Mafa said.
\nThe Cowdray Park seat fell vacant after Happy Ncube of MDC died in December last year.<\/p>\n
A local businessman Kidwell Mujuru is representing Zanu PF in the by-election in which 18 candidates are vying for the seat.
\nTwo candidates \u2014 Collet Ndlovu and Nomagugu Mloyi \u2014 are representing the MDC after the party failed to resolve its internal fights.<\/p>\n
Over the years, Zanu PF has relied heavily on food aid to drum up support especially in its strongholds \u2014 the rural areas.
\nBut former War veterans minister Tshinga Dube who has been leading the Zanu PF election campaigns in Cowdray Park said there was nothing wrong with vote buying.<\/p>\n
\u201cVote buying is allowed, the 60 tonnes of maize we are currently distributing is meant for Cowdray Park only but as for 30 tonnes of rice it\u2019s meant for the whole province.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who are accusing us of vote buying should just know that it\u2019s allowed in politics anywhere in the world,\u201d said Dube.
\n\u201cWhat these other political parties should do is to use their own means to campaign just like we are using ours. At the end of the day what matters most is to win the elections,\u201d he told the Daily News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ZANU PF is being accused of vote buying ahead of the Cowdray Park local government by-election slated for tomorrow. This was after Vice President Kembo Mohadi donated 60 tonnes of maize and 30 tonnes of rice to Cowdray Park residents at a rally last week. Zanu PF\u2019s rivals are now alleging \u201cvote buying\u201d, with MDC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[38,118,31,111],"class_list":{"0":"post-6561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-policy","9":"tag-zanu-pf","10":"tag-election","11":"tag-mnangagwa","12":"tag-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n