Zanu-PF politburo fails to appease Masvingo candidates

Disgruntled Zanu-PF members in Masvingo, who were disqualified from contesting the party's primary elections on Sunday, have been storming the party offices since Monday demanding to know why their names were pulled from the final list.

Some of the candidates said some "big names" afraid of competition had elbowed them out.

But provincial executive member, Zvapano Munganasa, denied the claims, saying the final list of candidates had been approved by the party's national elections commission headed by political commissar, Engelbert Rugeje.

"I am in possession of a list of approved candidates, which I got today from the party headquarters after vetting was done. If you do not hear your name, then you did not qualify and you can try next time," he said.

"There were people with complaints that came in the morning, but I am not the correct person to attend to their queries. As a province, we just forwarded the names of all aspiring candidates to the politburo for approval, we did not decide anything.

"If you lose, do not divide the people. Accept your loss and we urge unity in the party after the primaries. Nobody owns the people. Help the winner to campaign. We do not want violence in the primaries as well as the harmonised elections."

Zanu-PF provincial women's league commissar, Mucharevei Chamisa called on disqualified party members to rally behind the approved candidates.

"We are one family and the primary elections should not divide us. They should not destroy the party. We vote for the party no-mater who won," she said.