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Chief declares Zhombe no-go area for Zimbabwe opposition
28 Sep 2022 at 06:03hrs | Views
ZHOMBE traditional leader, Chief Samuel Samambwa, has declared the district a no-go area for opposition political parties, but complained that successive Zanu-PF governments have failed to electrify his homestead.
Speaking during the commissioning of Sherwood Clinic recently, the traditional leader said the opposition was not going to get any votes from his area, declaring it a preserve of the ruling Zanu-PF party.
He insisted that his subjects would vote for President Emmerson Mnangagwa in next year's general elections.
Chief Samambwa pledged his loyalty, and that of his subjects to Zanu-PF, in the presence of Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister, Larry Mavhima.
"Minister, I want you to take this message to President and tell him that he has our support here in Zhombe. He must be rest assured that the opposition is not going to get anything in Zhombe; that is a Zanu-PF stronghold," he said.
President Mnangagwa owns a thriving farming enterprise in Sherwood Block, just a few kilometres from Zhombe.
The farming enterprise falls under Samambwa's jurisdiction.
The Chief however, took opportunity of the event to lash out at government for failing to instal electricity in his village.
"I want to tell the minister that I don't have electricity at my place. I need electricity, the minister must, therefore, look into that issue," he said.
Local traditional leaders stand accused of helping coerce their subjects to vote for Zanu-PF in contravention of constitutional provisions clearly stating that they must not leaders must not "be members of any political party or in any way participate in partisan politics … act in a partisan manner (or) further the interests of any political party or cause".
Zimbabwe Council of Chiefs president Fortune Charumbira has been defiant over the issue, declaring that "Chiefs will never leave Zanu-PF'.
"On behalf of all chiefs in this country, I want to tell you that we are together. It's true we are together. We are behind you. I want to repeat this because there are people who ask us why we come here," Charumbira told Zanu-PF's annual conference in 2021.
Speaking during the commissioning of Sherwood Clinic recently, the traditional leader said the opposition was not going to get any votes from his area, declaring it a preserve of the ruling Zanu-PF party.
He insisted that his subjects would vote for President Emmerson Mnangagwa in next year's general elections.
Chief Samambwa pledged his loyalty, and that of his subjects to Zanu-PF, in the presence of Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister, Larry Mavhima.
"Minister, I want you to take this message to President and tell him that he has our support here in Zhombe. He must be rest assured that the opposition is not going to get anything in Zhombe; that is a Zanu-PF stronghold," he said.
President Mnangagwa owns a thriving farming enterprise in Sherwood Block, just a few kilometres from Zhombe.
The farming enterprise falls under Samambwa's jurisdiction.
The Chief however, took opportunity of the event to lash out at government for failing to instal electricity in his village.
"I want to tell the minister that I don't have electricity at my place. I need electricity, the minister must, therefore, look into that issue," he said.
Local traditional leaders stand accused of helping coerce their subjects to vote for Zanu-PF in contravention of constitutional provisions clearly stating that they must not leaders must not "be members of any political party or in any way participate in partisan politics … act in a partisan manner (or) further the interests of any political party or cause".
Zimbabwe Council of Chiefs president Fortune Charumbira has been defiant over the issue, declaring that "Chiefs will never leave Zanu-PF'.
"On behalf of all chiefs in this country, I want to tell you that we are together. It's true we are together. We are behind you. I want to repeat this because there are people who ask us why we come here," Charumbira told Zanu-PF's annual conference in 2021.
Source - NewZimbabwe
