INCOMING Tsholotsho North MP Roselyn Nkomo has vowed to resist moves by former Information minister Jonathan Moyo to force a recount of ballots in the constituency on Wednesday.
Report by Nduduzo Tshuma
Moyo lost the seat he won as an independent in 2005 and 2008 after he was beaten by Roselyn, wife of outgoing Water Resources minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo by 200 votes.
But the Zanu PF politburo member has demanded a recount citing a number of irregularities in the polls held on Wednesday.
Ironically, Moyo’s complaints dovetail with MDC-T’s claims that the harmonised elections were stolen by Zanu PF and President Robert Mugabe.
However, Nkomo’s chief election officer Thamsanqa Ncube described the Zanu PF strategist as a sore loser.
“The reasons cited by Moyo for a recount are baseless. He says his election agents were left behind by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) vehicle, but it did not carry any agents,” Ncube said.
“The ZEC officials were using twin cabs and only the ballot boxes, the police and the polling officers could fit in the vehicle.
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“We followed them with our own vehicles like we did during the special vote.”
Ncube said they were not afraid of a recount as they believed some of their votes were actually given to Zanu PF.
“The people of Tsholotsho North don’t want Zanu PF anymore and Moyo knows that,” he said.
“He hoodwinked the people by taking their vote to Zanu PF and he has been rewarded by a loss.
“Our lawyers are handling the matter and are in touch with ZEC. What we are saying is that Moyo should be mature enough to accept defeat because it is clear that he lost.”
ZEC confirmed in a statement it was going to recount the votes in Tsholotsho as well as in Mudzi South constituencies following complaints by Zanu PF candidates. Votes for Tsholotsho will be recounted on August 7 at the District Development Fund Training Centre.
Moyo’s chief election officer Vincent Moyo was quoted in the State media saying some of the former MP’s votes were taken to Tsholotsho South.
He said others were treated as spoilt ballot papers “for inexplicable reasons”.
The acerbic political analyst has also complained about the way postal votes were handled.
