Cde Gumbo
Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
THE ZANU-PF Politburo is today scheduled to receive reports on the outcome of provincial elections held in seven provinces last weekend where isolated cases of violence and poll irregularities were reported.
The meeting comes in the wake of contested results in Masvingo, Mashonaland East and Bulawayo provinces where losing candidates want the results nullified.
In provinces such as Mashonaland West, some prospective voters were injured in intra-party skirmishes while in Masvingo objections were raised over the use of police to man the poll centres.
After receiving reports from team leaders deployed to supervise the elections, the Politburo is expected to either endorse the results or order reruns in provinces with grave complaints.
Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo yesterday said once the Politburo is convinced the elections were held transparently, it would automatically endorse all the outcomes.
“We are going to look at reports from the team leaders on the outcome of the seven provincial elections.
“Obviously, the Politburo will endorse the polls if it feels that the process was done in a free and transparent manner.”
Sources said the general feeling was that the Politburo would endorse them.
“There is no way the Politburo is not going to endorse the newly-elected provincial chairpersons,” said a source.
“How can someone who garnered 2 000 votes seek to nullify a colossal victory of 24 000 votes?
“Some people are mere attention seekers and the party should be wary of such characters.”
The source said this in apparent reference to Cde Philemon Mutongi from Mashonaland East who lodged a petition querying Cde Ray Kaukonde’s whopping 24 263 votes against his 2 616.
Cde Gumbo said the Politburo would also discuss preparations for the Chinhoyi Annual National People’s Conference that begins next Tuesday.
He said all systems were in place for the conference.
“We are now ready for the conference and the national chairman (Cde Simon Khaya Moyo) visited the venue of the conference this week and he was happy with the level of preparedness there,” he said.
Cde Gumbo said Cde Khaya Moyo was likely to present a report on preparations for the conference.
Today’s meeting is the last meeting before the revolutionary party’s Annual National People’s Conference roars into life.
The conference is expected to come up with strategies on how the party would operationalise its economic blueprint, Zim Asset which will steer economic revival efforts till 2018.