CONTROVERSIAL
councillor for Ward 24 in Bulawayo, Arnold Batirai has been accused of forging
MDC Alliance’s chief of staff, Mr Sesel Zvidzai’s signature which saw him
participating in the 30 July harmonised elections under the party’s ticket.
That resulted in the party fielding two candidates in the
ward as the letter with the alleged forged signature claimed the other
candidate Gideon Mangena had been expelled from the party.
Residents from the ward have since signed a petition
addressed to the party’s president, Mr Nelson Chamisa, provincial chairperson,
Mr Gift Banda, the Mayor, Councillor Solomon Mguni, Town Clerk Mr Christopher
Dube and the MDC Alliance national chairperson, Ms Thabitha Khumalo, among
others.
In the petition, signed by 1 000 signatories, the residents
accused Clr Batirai of misleading residents through the forged letter thereby
violating the Electoral Act.
“Arnold Batirai forged a signature of the MDC Alliance
chief of staff Mr Sesel Zvidzai and distributed letters which were misleading
to the electorate before and on the voting day which purported that Mr Gideon
Mangena had been expelled by the party as a representative in the local
government elections.
“By so doing, he not only violated the Electoral Act but
prejudiced Mr Gideon Mangena of potential votes and committed fraud. It later
appeared that Mr Zvidzai vehemently denied ever authoring the purported
letter,” reads part of the petition.
The residents have called on the party to recall Clr
Batirai and declare the seat vacant.
“Our call is for the removal of Arnold Batirai from being
Ward 24 councillor with immediate effect, the conducting of a Ward 24
by-election with the proper candidates from respective parties and the total
expulsion and banishment of Clr Batirai from Ward 24 as the residents will not
in any way respect or accept him or his candidature. If this is not done, he
will face an extremely fierce and strenuous resistance,” reads the petition.
In the letter, which Clr Batirai is alleged to have forged
Mr Zvidzai’s signature, that is attached to the petition it reads; “This served
to confirm that the bearer, Mr Arnold Batirai Dube is the sole candidate for
the MDC Alliance in Ward 24 Nketa constituency. There is no one allowed to use
the MDC Alliance logo as MDC Alliance candidate. Mr Gideon Mangena was expelled
from the party.”
Contained in the same petition is another letter again
signed by Mr Zvidzai where the chief of staff distances himself from the
initial letter.
“I write to dissociate myself from a letter confirming
Arnold Batirai as the sole candidate of the MDC Alliance for ward 24 Nketa
constituency in Bulawayo. My signature was forged for the purposes known to Mr
Batirai,” reads the letter dated 28 August 2018.
Contacted for comment Mr Banda confirmed receiving the
petition saying they were now handling it internally and the party will soon
make a determination.
“Yes, we have received the petition, for now there are a
number of internal processes we are exhausting in terms of investigating the
matter, after we are through with all these processes we will then make a
determination on the best way forward,” said Mr Banda.
Clr Batirai said while he was aware of the petition, he
rubbished all allegations being raised by residents, instead accusing Mr
Mangena and his supporters of forging the letter under contention just to get
him expelled from the party.
“This is all because of the ongoing war between me and Mr
Mangena. That very letter which they are talking about did not emanate from me,
actually I got to know about it when he (Mr Mangena) took me to court
challenging my win in the elections.
“Whoever wrote and distributed that letter initially wanted
to get me disqualified by Zec for campaigning within 24 hours of the elections
but that failed now they want to go on and claim that I actually wrote the
letter, which they very much know is not true,” said Clr Batirai.
The embattled councillor’s first couple of months in office
have been characterised by controversy which started with him arriving late and
allegedly drunk during the swearing in of councillors in the council chambers.
Clr Batirai further took his oath of office in Shona which resulted in
activists aligned to the Mthwakazi Republic Party erupting in protest and
manhandling the councillor. The activists later allegedly kidnapped Clr Batirai
and continued manhandling him.
Contacted for comment, Mr Zvidzai distanced himself from
the letter purporting Clr Batirai as the sole candidate saying he had no
authority to make such correspondence.
“The truth is that I never wrote a letter to the effect
that Arnold Batirai was the sole candidate of the Alliance.
“I never had authority to write official communications on
behalf of the Alliance having been the Chief of Staff of only one of the
Alliance partners, the MDC-T.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, the official
communications and correspondence of the Alliance were the responsibility of
Professor Welshman Ncube. Batirai was then a member of PDP.
“The course of action against him therefore lies squarely
in the hands of the relevant party he belonged to at that material time.
Suffice to say as the MDC Alternative Ministry of Local Government and
Devolution, we shall not tolerate corruption nor brook any nonsense that may
have the effect of eroding our integrity,” said Mr Zvidzai. Sunday News
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