The party fared poorly in Manicaland, Masvingo and the southern parts of the country, in addition to urban constituencies that since 2000 have been dominated by the MDC.
Investigations reveal that a big chunk of the youth empowerment fund distributed by the Zimbabwe Youth was awarded to areas in which Zanu (PF) lost much of its support since 2000.
Documents shown to this newspaper reveal that Harare had a lion’s share of $395 000, Manicaland ($303 000) with Bulawayo getting $146 000, in an effort to capacitate the youths and start income generating projects.
Mashonaland West, a province from which the Zanu (PF) leader, Robert Mugabe, hails from received $198 000.
Zanu (PF) won only one seat in the capital as MDC bagged 28. In Manicaland MDC took hold of 20 seats and Zanu (PF) only got six. In Bulawayo, the party failed to win a single seat.
The move has been widely seen as a vote buying campaign ahead of crucial elections to be held next year.
However, ZYC director, Livingstone Dzikira, rubbished allegations of distributing the youth fund along party lines to woe young voters.
“The fund is not a Zanu (PF) project because the bank that is helping in distributing these funds is not owned by the party,” he said. “Such allegations are emerging from people who are now in an election mood and our database of the beneficiaries shows that anyone can benefit, regardless of their political affiliation.”
A local political analyst Jabusile Shumba, Public Policy and Governance Manager at the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe said vote buying remained central to Zanu (PF) tactics.
“In the Zimbabwean context, vote buying is a key feature of Zanu (PF) patronage politics since 1980, to sustain its political re-generation,” Shumba said.
Post published in: News