SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
Voting in the MDC primary elections are said to be going smoothly and without any logistical problems, according to party spokesman Nhlanhla Dube.
The primaries started on June 15th, as part of the two-phase selection process which was preceded by what the party called ‘the consensus approach’, whereby candidates discuss and agree to give way to a stronger one.
Speaking to SW Radio Africa from Vungu in the Midlands, Dube said the party was at the tail-end of its internal selection process and would be in a position to release a full list from all the provinces Thursday.
“We haven’t faced any major problems as far as the process is concerned and so far, our outcomes testify to the dedication of our members to having a free, fair and democratic process and we thank them for that.
“You will also recall that the majority of our candidates were selected using the roundtable method, and we have been conducting primaries only in those constituencies where applicants failed to agree.
“We are now in the final states and we should be able to release the full national list of candidates who will contest on the party’s ticket probably tomorrow or the day after, but definitely in time for the nomination court Friday,” Dube said.
In response to the discord that has characterised primaries in the MDC-T and ZANU PF, Dube said his party’s consensus strategy had paid off and prevented any infighting.
Meanwhile, the MDC candidate for Bulilima West, Moses Mzila-Ndlovu, who is also co-Minister of Integration, has been accused of threatening to shoot two firewood poachers before robbing them of their cash, car keys, mobile phone and personal identity documents.
The alleged robbery is said to have occurred at the minister’s farm located on the Bulawayo-Plumtree Road in April.
However, Mzila’s supporters view the allegations as part of a smear campaign directed at the outspoken war veteran, with indications that the firewood poachers were caught stealing livestock from the farm.
While it was not possible to get a reaction from Mzila as the case is before the courts, MDC spokesman Dube said the party was confident that he was innocent.
“As a law-respecting party we do not want to pre-empt the court’s decision on the matter but we would like to state that Mzila is innocent until proven guilty and we are confident that a competent court of law will exonerate him.
“We believe that if there are any political machinations as we suspect, these will be exposed through the court process,” Dube said.
Dube said the allegations do not in any way affect Mzila’s candidature “as he has not been found guilty of any criminal offence”.