More protests rock fractious Zanu-PF

Supporters of Mbare losing candidate Nelson Mashiri accused the winning candidate Tendai Savanhu of using the dreaded Chipangano militia to perpetrate violence against them.

"We are here to present our grievances to the attention of senior party officials because the election was not fair. Members of Chipangano beat up Mashiri's wife and stoned his car," said one of the protestors.

Mashiri said he had to submit his curriculum vitae several times after it went missing each time he presented it to the provincial elections directorate.

He said his polling agents were hounded out of polling stations.

"There was a deliberate effort to frustrate my intentions to run for the seat and each time I was told either my CV had missing pages or it was not found in my file. The elections were conducted in the absence of my agents who had been intimidated and harassed by Savanhu's militia," he said.

"Two trucks, a Mazda T35 and an Isuzu pick up were used to transport people from other surbubs to vote for Savanhu against the policy of the party where only members of the cell in the relevant area are allowed to vote," Mashiri said.

But Savanhu denied the allegations and said only the electoral department of Zanu PF - which conducted the primaries - could comment on what transpired.