'War vets vetting is a vote-buying gimmick'

Zanu-PF Harare provincial chairperson Godwills Masimirembwa has unwittingly disclosed that the ongoing vetting exercise for war collaborators is a vote-buying gimmick.

Addressing a campaign rally in Glen Norah B on Tuesday, Masimirembwa said: "If over 200 000 war collaborators and cadres are getting vetted and soon will start earning their pensions and their children get their school fees paid, ask yourself how many votes would that be for Zanu-PF before we even go to vote we already have over 600 000 votes just from war collaborators going to (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa."

"If you vote for Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) you would have voted for people who are not ruling and will never rule because Zanu-PF will rule until donkeys grow horns," he said.

The country on Saturday will hold by-elections to fill 28 parliamentary and 105 local authority seats following the recall of MDC Alliance legislators and councillors.

"When you are walking you should walk with the winning team and not those that lose. Zanu-PF will never be removed from power. Look at how good (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa is, war veterans and ex-detainees for 42 years who had not been vetted will now be vetted," Masimirembwa said. Speaking at the same event, Destiny for Africa Network leader Obadiah Musindo said people who did not vote for Zanu-PF risked being left out of government-funded projects.

"If you do not vote for Zanu-PF,  you will be taken as people who do not like the government, so you will be excluded from all projects that have anything to do with Zanu-PF," he said.