Gumbo brothers contest each other in Mberengwa

Zanu-PF candidate for Mberengwa West Constituency Joram Gumbo will battle it out with his younger brother Tinashe who is representing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC in an epic contest set to severely test their relationship.

With the July 31 election date fast approaching, relations between the brothers may never be the same when the contest is over.

While hard-bitten campaign aides expect to wind down at the end of the day with a beer and an expletive-filled discussion about the failures of their opponent, the same may not apply to the candidates themselves as tensions have already reached fever pitch following the two brothers' public altercation in front of chief Matyebadza in the Midlands Province.

In a wide ranging interview with the Daily News on Sunday Tinashe accused his elder brother of monopolising political space despite having agreed in principle as brothers to campaign peacefully notwithstanding their divergent political views.

Tinashe says matters came to a head when he was attacked by Joram at a meeting to discuss ways to ensure peaceful co-existence of political parties ahead of the elections, a position Joram denies.

The meeting organised by Chief Matyebadza was meant to give all political players in this election a platform to address the community on peace.

"The chief had invited all political parties including the MDC led by Industry and Commerce minister Welshman Ncube. All the candidates were billed to address but when Joram came he wanted to turn it into a campaign rally for his party and we protested.

"He told us that we had no following and that we would not address, so I instructed our supporters to leave after the chief had failed to rein him in. When he realised that almost everyone at the meeting was MDC he confronted me and violently pushed and manhandled me until supporters intervened," said Tinashe.

However,  Joram claims that his brother had imposed himself at a meeting he had not been invited, as he was the one addressing villagers throughout the constituency with the help of traditional leaders to build peace.

"These things are being blown out of proportion. We did not fight as such but my brother wanted to be part of a Zanu-PF meeting when he is not one of us politically. He is my brother but politically he is too junior for me to fight him. That is cheap propaganda on his part," said Gumbo.

Meanwhile, a group calling itself Mberengwa agenda has posted on Facebook, messages accusing the elder Gumbo of unleashing terror in the constituency.

"Mberengwa West MP and Zanu-PF Chief Whip Jorum Gumbo has unleashed a terror Group at Zibanga to kill and beat MDC supporters in the area.

"This comes a few hours after he attacked his brother Tinashe Gumbo the MDC candidate at a Chief's community meeting where all parties were supposed to address the community on peace and Jorum refused(sic).

Jorum did not want Tinashe to address and he started pushing him violently Can JOMIC come and assist us," reads the post.

As the brothers' disagreements continue over the future of thenconstituency a few days before the election become increasingly pointed and personal, the million dollar question is who will win?