14 candidates eye Mujuru's seat

A record 14 candidates submitted their Curricula Vitae (CVs) to Zanu-PF last Friday seeking to represent the party in the March 27 by-election for Mt Darwin West National Assembly seat left vacant by former Vice President Dr Joice Mujuru.

The huge interest in the constituency could be a sign that many people were being suppressed from contesting in the area which remains underdeveloped despite Dr Mujuru being its legislator since 1980.

Dr Mujuru was not amongst those who submitted their CVs, although technically she was qualified to do so because she is a Zanu PF ordinary card carrying member.

In an interview yesterday, Mashonaland Central Zanu PF Provincial chairman Dickson Mafios said an overwhelming number of people had submitted their CVs during the Mashonaland Central Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) meeting held in Bindura last week.

He said owing to the huge interest, the PCC had put forward the dates for the vetting of the CVs to this Tuesday to allow some of the candidates to "self-introspect" and possibly opt out, in order to trim the numbers.

"The Provincial Coordinating Committee met on Friday (last week) at a meeting that was called by the National Political Commissar Saviour Kasukuwere to officially brief us on the Presidential proclamation of the by-election in Mt Darwin West.

"Simultaneously the meeting was also called to receive CVs from interested candidates to contest the Mt Darwin West seat. 14 people submitted their CVs to contest the position and we were overwhelmed by the huge interest. I think it was a record of some sort," he said.

Mafios said as a result of the overwhelming interest, the PCC had made the unprecedented decision to ask some of the interested candidates to reconsider before the final vetting takes place this Tuesday.

"The Provincial Election Directorate will meet on Tuesday and vet the CVs to come up with the final list. After that we will then call for an inter-district meeting to inform them of the final candidates that we would have chosen.

"If need be, we will then have a primary election on either the 23rd or 24th of this month," he said. Mafios said the huge interest could be a sign that many people were being suppressed from contesting in the area.

"It is apparent that the former Vice President made it a point that she would not be challenged because of her previous powerful post and she suppressed the will of the people of Mt Darwin West constituency," he said.

Recently, party supporters in Mt Darwin said they lost confidence in Dr Mujuru after it emerged that she and her associates were involved in a plot to topple President Mugabe through an alleged assassination.

Following the revelations, Dr Mujuru fell out of favour with members in the province who subsequently rejected her CV for nomination into the Central Committee ahead of the 6th Zanu PF National People's Congress last month.

President Mugabe proclaimed by-elections for Mt Darwin West and Chirumanzi-Zibagwe constituencies in a Government gazette a fortnight ago setting January 29 as the nomination court sitting date and March 27 as the by-election day. The two seats fell vacant following the elevation of Mnangagwa (Chirumanzu-Zibagwe) to the post of Vice President on December 10 last year and his predecessor Dr Mujuru who assumed the same office on September 11 in 2013.