Chaos, threats mar MDC-T polls

The MDC's weekend primary elections descended into chaos, with violence, death threats and allegations of bribery marring the opposition's internal polls in some constituencies as its supporters voted to choose their representatives for the country's looming national elections.

Meanwhile, MDC-T national deputy youth leader and self-confessed commander of the party's militia - the Vanguard, Shakespeare Mukoyi, has spilled the beans on the dirty machinations applied by his group to prop up the new leadership takeover of the opposition party following founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai's death in February this year.

He claimed there were underhand moves by top party officials to impose deputy national treasurer Charlton Hwende as MDC-T candidate for Kuwadzana East constituency.

The MDC-T failed to hold primary elections in Kuwadzana East on Friday after Mukoyi and Hwende's supporters disrupted the process.

Mukoyi said that when Tsvangirai was on his deathbed early this year, the party leadership approached him asking him to engineer Chamisa's ascendancy at a time other MDC-T co-vice-presidents Elias Mudzuri and Thokozani Khupe were also angling to take over the position.