MDC-T members in Nkayi North have accused Zanu PF parliamentary candidate and Small-to-Medium Enterprises minister Sithembiso Nyoni of vote-buying ahead of the special voting exercise which ended yesterday. REPORT BY SILAS NKALA The accusations came amid reports that Nyoni slaughtered three beasts and organised a massively attended campaign rally at Gwelutshena business centre on Saturday.
MDC-T district chairman Kufakwezwe Ncube yesterday told Southern Eye that he received a report from members that in a typical vote-buying campaign, Nyoni slaughtered three beasts for the people in her constituency on Saturday.
But they believe that it was a strategy to lure votes from the civil servants, most of them police officers, who were due to vote the following day.
“She reportedly slaughtered three beasts and held a function at Gwelutshena business centre where she invited the musicians Sandra Ndebele and Majahawodwa ‘Jeys Marabini’ Ndlovu to perform at the function,” Ncube said.
He said the fact that she had the rally a day before voting, there were assumptions that she was targeting police officers.
When contacted for comment, Nyoni said she was just launching her campaign and there was no vote buying at the function.
“That is politicking,” she defended herself. “People are going around feeding others, can that be vote-buying?
“I was launching my election campaign, which was well attended by over 5 000 people and they were just shocked by the numbers that attended the function and want to vilify me over the support I have here.”
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Nyoni hit back accusing other parties of visiting people in their homes and giving $5 each to vote for them, yet hers was a public event, to which everyone was invited and as a result many attended.
“The President Robert Mugabe gave me a lot of material to launch the campaign,” she added.
“I cannot let the people starve just because someone will say I am vote-buying. There is no vote-buying if someone feeds the masses in time of need.”
But Ncube said there were lot of concerns in the constituency over conduct of Zanu PF members during other political party campaign meetings.
Twitter feedback @silasnkala.
