They noted that the move is designed to influence chiefs to support President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party in the 2018 general elections.
Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere announced the care deal on Thursday, saying the government purchased 226 vehicles outside the country in order to make it easy for traditional leaders to travel in their areas of jurisdiction.
Kasukukwere, who did not reveal the total cost of the vehicles, noted that 20 of the vehicles are already in the country.
An Isuzu double twin cab listed in South Africa’s Isuzu website costs $365,600 (US$25,670). Observers say if the vehicles were purchased via the website, they cost Zimbabwe $5,801.420.
Chiefs are expected to hold a traditional leaders’ meeting in Bulawayo on Friday.
Chiefs National Council leader Fortune Charumbira dismissed suggestions that the vehicles are designed to influence them to support the ruling party in the forthcoming elections, stressing that the government has a constitution mandate to buy them cars.
Zimbabwe started buying vehicles for chiefs a couple of years ago but critics say the cars are normally bought ahead of crucial elections.
Chiefs have over the years been accused of coercing people in rural areas to vote for the ruling party in council, parliamentary, senatorial and presidential elections.
The real surprise here is that reaction by the opposition parties and civic society leaders, they all know that this is the modus operandi of the carrot for the chiefs, party thugs, etc. (all paid for from looted national wealth) and a big stick for the impoverished povo. And yet time and time again they complain about it as if they did not know what is happening!
Worse still, the opposition and civic leaders know that the only way to stop Zanu PF looting and using the looted wealth to bankroll its vote rigging activities for the nation to implement the raft of democratic reforms agreed during the 2008 GPA. It was the MDC politicians who had the golden opportunity to implement the reforms and yet failed to get even one reform implemented in five years!
SADC leaders have made it very clear, in the case of those of us who failed to figure it for ourselves, Zimbabweans should not take part in an election without first implementing the reforms. Both the opposition and civic leaders make a long song and dance about Zanu PF rigging the vote and yet they are the ones encouraging povo to take part in flawed and illegal elections! They cannot see the misconnect, the insanity, of contesting flawed and illegal elections and hope the result will be legal and the process free, fair and credible!
Povo are totally dependent on these opposition and civic leaders for political guidance; they follow them blindly like sheep to the slaughter and they have paid dearly for their foolishness as they have been led from one blunder into the next.
Poor povo, mankind is a creature of reason but povo have been condition to do as they told and to ask no questions and now they have, effectively, lost their ability to think! So many Zimbabweans will be frogmarched by the chiefs, whose palms have been greased, to register and then to vote; we have seen it all happen thousands of times and yet appear shocked when we see it happen again!
time for the people to tell the traditional leaders where to go !
Nice one Bob! No wonder no-one of any consequence cares about your little failed state anymore..