The MDC Alliance is alleged to have fraudulently wrote a letter to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) purporting that six of its aggrieved candidates had withdrawn from the National Assembly election race to restore order in the alliance.
The six — Clifford Nhamburo (Gorromonzi West), Knowledge Mupini (Gutu West), Ernest Mandigo (Gutu Central), Justin Makota (Masvingo South), William Zivenge (Zaka West) and Francis Mangwendedza (Bulawayo South) — registered to participate in the poll under MDC Alliance.
In a bid to restore order in the Alliance, the MDC-T leadership wrote to Zec misleading it into believing that the six had voluntarily withdrawn from the race. Their names were then published in the press on Tuesday as candidates who had agreed to withdraw from the election.
Zec was later notified that the six had not voluntarily withdrawn and went on to correct the error by reinstating them as National Assembly candidates for their respective constituencies contesting under MDC Alliance.
Reads the notice by Zec: “It is hereby notified that the notice specifying the names of candidates who withdrew from the 2018 general elections published in the local newspaper of July 3 contained errors.
“The candidates listed below did not withdraw their candidature, but remain as contestants in the 2018 general elections.”
“The candidates told us that they were voluntarily withdrawing, but it now looks like they have gone back behind our backs with a different story,” he said.
Dr Sibanda said the Alliance also suspected that the development might be a result of fraud.
“We suspect that it can be the work of some people working on the other side who forged signatures with an intention to cause confusion within the Alliance,” he said.
“The party is looking at it and those found to be behind the fraud will be brought to book.” Herald
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