Zanu-PF goes to the polls

The Zanu-PF provincial elections are expected to go on today as scheduled with the ruling party yesterday expressing its readiness to conduct the internal polls.

The elections are meant to choose new Provincial Coordinating Committees (PCC) with the previous ones having been dissolved last week.

Zanu-PF Political Commissar, Cde Mike Bimha, yesterday said all was in place for the ruling party's elections to select new provincial leadership and confirmed that more than 10 candidates had been disqualified for various reasons.

Those disqualified, he said, were notified in person.

"We have deployed Politburo members to run the affairs of the provinces since the party provincial structures were dissolved last Tuesday," he said.

"With the help of Central Committee members from the supervising province they well administer the elections and will ensure that the rules and regulations for conducting internal elections are adhered to and to take corrective action where necessary.

"Election Commissioners have also been deployed to observe and monitor the conduct of elections. There will be command centres at administrative district, provincial and national levels."

The supervising teams would also be assisted by directors and technical staff from the party.

Cde Bimha told a press conference yesterday that the elections would start at 7am and end at 5pm with no extension of polling time allowed.

He added that when voting ends, the counting would start immediately and results would be signed off by the presiding officer and chairperson of the district's chairperson of the main wing and women and youth leagues and would be posted outside the polling station and submitted to the District Coordinating Committee command centre for onward transmission to the provincial command centre.

From the command centre the results would be transmitted to the national command centre at the party headquarters in Harare.

Results are expected to be announced starting mid-morning tomorrow.

Cde Bimha urged candidates to follow rules and regulations governing the elections to ensure a democratic and transparent outcome and thanked officials for the smooth preparations of the elections so far.

He confirmed, without mentioning names, that some prospective candidates had been disqualified for failing the security vetting or not meeting the criteria and said each concerned candidate would be advised of the reasons individually.

"They are not a big number they could be probably 15 or so who have failed to qualify the test and they would be notified individually," he said

His statement follows the disqualification in Mashonaland East of Cde Ozias Bvute from contesting the province's chairmanship.

The provincial elections team leader Cde Ziyambi Ziyambi confirmed his disqualification yesterday adding everything was in place for the polls.

Last night in a statement Zanu-PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa also confirmed that Mashonaland West former acting provincial chairman Cde Abia Mujeri had withdrawn his candidature.

Cde Bimha dismissed the possibility of rigging saying the electoral college was small and defined making it nearly impossible to influence the outcome through underhand  means.

In Mashonaland West, deployment of polling officers and ballot papers was done yesterday with the party''s headquarters having provided 18 commuter omnibuses for the purpose.

Members of Parliament and well-wishers also provided vehicles used in the logistics for the successful running of elections.

Team leader, Cde Lovemore Matuke who is also the party's National Security Secretary in the Politburo said all systems activated for the successful running of the elections.