Zanu PF claims MDC bribed ZEC officials

Zanu PF claims MDC bribed ZEC officials

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By Fikile Mapala

ZIMBABWE’S ruling Zanu PF party on Friday claimed officials from a body running last weekend’s elections were bribed to tweak votes, denying the party victory in at least 16 parliamentary constituencies.

The stunning development adds a new twist to a dramatic election which saw Zanu PF’s parliamentary majority overturned for the first time, and the opposition claiming victory in presidential elections whose outcome is still unknown – seven days after polling last Saturday.

Didymus Mutasa, Zanu PF’s secretary for administration, told journalists that his party was challenging results of 16 constituencies, accusing ZEC officials of conniving with the opposition to manipulate results.

Previously, the opposition has accused the ZEC of being under the control of Zanu PF and involvement in alleged rigging activities.

The Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC faction garnered 99 seats in the House of Assembly to Zanu PF’s 97 seats. A rival MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara took 10 seats, with one independent retaining his seat.

By-elections will be held in three constituencies where opposition candidates died before Election Day.

Mutasa also claimed voters were instructed to vote for the opposition while ZEC officials were bribed with huge sums of money to sway the vote in favour of the opposition.

“This is the worst election I have ever seen and we are going to raise all the dirty stuff they did (ZEC)” Cde Mutasa said, adding, “we cannot sell our birthright for 30 pieces of silver.”

Mutasa claimed some of the culprits had since confessed to receiving bribes and that some ZEC officials told people who to vote for in contravention of the electoral laws.

Zanu PF officials say a random selection of results submitted to the National Command Centre in Harare from the Midlands Province revealed glaring errors in some of the statistics that severely affected President Mugabe’s grand total.

In one constituency in Mberengwa, they allege, one ward gave Mugabe’s votes as 574 instead of 728, another as 921 instead of 1 015, and yet another gave his total as 718 instead of 844, while they also allege one constituency’s postal ballots were completely omitted.

The sources allege Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni’s votes were inflated with one ward reporting 325 instead of 225 for the former, while Makoni’s constituency total was given as 3 191 instead of 1 191.

Meeting African election observers on Wednesday, Mugabe said: “We don’t believe in any cheating, but the other side, oh, lots of the irregularities you know, people who do forgeries… but they also must also be straightforward.” (see video).
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