'Gun threats' at MDC-T primaries

AN aspiring MDC-T councillor in Bulawayo allegedly pulled out a pistol and threatened to shoot party supporters for allegedly holding primary elections in a constituency he claimed was reserved for youths.

Mr Tinashe Kambarami, who was recently elected to represent the party in the city's Ward 3, allegedly disrupted the MDC-T primary election in Bulawayo South constituency on Sunday.

The party was holding primary elections to elect its Member of Parliament and councillors for the area.

An MDC-T insider yesterday said Mr Kambarami disrupted the election, grabbing some of the ballot papers that had been cast.

"He stormed Sizinda Recreational Centre, ordering the party to stop conducting the election claiming that the constituency was on a youth quota and should not be contested," said the insider.

"He demanded that the elections officer hands over the ballot box to him before producing a gun threatening the election officer.

"The old man however did not budge. He (elections officer) tried to leave the premises with the ballot box before Kambarami pushed him, grabbing some of the ballot papers and fleeing with them."

The insider said some party members tried to apprehend Mr Kambarami but he allegedly pulled out his gun for the second time.

"He brandished his pistol threatening to shoot anyone who tried to lay their hands on him. He jumped into a vehicle and sped off almost running over some of the party supporters who had surrounded his car," said the source.

A senior MDC-T member queried his interest in the constituency.

"What is his interest in the area to the extent of brandishing a gun? Is he the one to decide which area is reserved for the youths? His behaviour was totally uncalled for," he said.

Mr Kambarami denied drawing a gun, saying party supporters mistook his cell phone for a fire arm.

He claimed he was actually a victim in the chaos for insisting that the party was not supposed to hold elections in the constituency.

"There are some people who were drunk and had been bought to cause commotion. They started to wrestle with me and when I took out my cell phone someone said I had pulled a pistol. There was no fire arm as is claimed," said Mr Kambarami.

He said if he had a gun, he would have produced it as the crowd was a threat to his life.

"Why would I have run away if I was wielding a gun? It would have been me chasing the residents not the other way round. This chaos was caused by factions from the national leadership," he said.

MDC-T primary elections have been rocked by incidents of violence with the police last week arresting Ward 28 Councillor Collet Ndhlovu for alleged violent conduct.

MDC-T national chairman Mr Morgen Komichi, addressing a press briefing in Harare yesterday, admitted that violence has characterised the party's internal polls.

"In the process of primary came some bad elements which spearhead violence. I want to warn those bad elements that justice will be done. Heads will roll. We don't want people who want to influence the process by using thugs or any unlawful means," he said.

"We will not reward those bad elements at all. But we will punish them for whatever they did in various areas. The report is being compiled and certain people might be disqualified."