The militias and war veterans swindled the villagers of their ID’s after indicating that they wanted to cross-check whether they were registered to vote in the run-off.The militias, who have set up base in the area, reportedly said they would facilitate the registration of villagers who were unregistered voters to ensure everyone votes in the run-off.However, the ZEC has indicated that there would not be any new registration for the June 27 election.
We were told by the Zanu (PF) members that we should submit our IDs for cross checking – but since then, they have disappeared with our IDs, said one of the traumatized villagers who refused to be named, fearing victimization.The MDC secretary for Matabeleland South, Petros Mukwena, said the party feared the move was a plot to rig the election, since villagers would not be eligible to vote.
Rido Mpofu, the Zanu (PF) Matabeleland South chairman, when contacted by The Zimbabwean on Sunday refused to comment.