The 2008 “Bhora Musango” (Strike ball into the bush) strategy involved party supporters casting their votes against the party and President Robert Mugabe in response to the imposition of candidates in their constituencies.
Last week aspiring candidates were caught unawares when their highest decision making body outside congress, the Politburo, gave a one-day notice for them to submit applications to represent the party.
Party Chairman, Simon Khaya, made the announcement on June 15. According to his schedule, on June 16, Provincial Elections Directorates were to meet and receive CVs and letters from aspiring candidates. The following day, the PEDs were to forward their consolidated lists of approved and disapproved candidates to the National Elections Directorate.
On June 18, the NED would consider submissions by the PEDs and make their recommendations for consideration by the Politburo. The Politburo would then meet the following day to consider submissions by the NED and thereafter the chairman would announce the list. Party primary elections were set for June 24, leaving candidates with five days to campaign. Several aspiring candidates were eyeing constituencies in which serving party MPs and Senators had lost grassroots support due to complacency, inaccessibility and abuse of the Constituency Development Funds.
Some of the Zanu (PF) cadres who faced stiff opposition were the party’s chief whip in parliament, Joram Gumbo (Mberengwa West), Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa (Chirumanzu-Zibagwe) and former provincial youth leader Kizitho Chivamba (Chiundura).
Also to sweat it out with new comers are former ZBC staffer Makhosini Hlongwane (Mberengwa East), Dorcas Mhangami (Gokwe Central) Flora Bhuka (Gokwe-Nembudziya), Josphat Madhubeko (Vungu) and Obert Matshalaga (Zvishavane-Runde).
All are understood to be aligned to a party faction led by Mnangagwa which implies that the most affected candidates were the ones sympathetic to another rival group led by VP Joice Mujuru. “We feel the compressed timeframes were meant to protect some unpopular party officials. For instance, I only heard of the date of submitting applications while in South Africa. I could not manage to reach my district in time and so I have been elbowed out,” said a disgruntled Zanu (PF) member who was eyeing Gumbo’s constituency.
In a telephone interview, one of the aspiring Zanu (PF) candidates for Nembudziya who also failed to submit his application, said incumbent MP Bhuka was disliked by grassroots supporters and predicted they would either stay at home on election day or vote against her.
Post published in: News