MDC Alliance secretary general, Mr Douglas Mwonzora
yesterday said he withdrew from the presidential election race because the
playing field was tilted in favour of his rival Mr Nelson Chamisa.
He launched a scathing attack on his party and the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) for failing to address concerns that he had
raised.
In an interview yesterday, Mr Mwonzora said he had raised
an array of irregularities that he said were rampant in the ongoing provincial
congresses but the ZCTU which was superintending over the polls had failed to
address them.
This, he said, had seen him withdrawing from the race. “I
am no longer able to continue participating in the current congress. I have
raised my concerns to the chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission,
ZCTU led by Mr Japhet Moyo but nothing was done. I therefore, had to withdraw
because I do not wish to see the party divided,” said Mr Mwonzora.
“I cannot continue participating in the congress under the
present circumstances if the concerns I have raised remained unresolved.”
Asked why he announced that he would contest the post of
the secretary general, Mr Mwonzora said the statement was based on his desire
to respect those who had nominated him to that post.
Pressed to divulge the concerns he had raised, Mr Mwonzora
referred questions to Mr Moyo.
“There are internal but there are a number of concerns that
I raised but were not addressed,” he said.
When contacted for comment, Mr Moyo confirmed receiving the
letter from Mr Mwonzora but said the committee had not yet sat to deliberate on
them.
“We received several concerns. I am not comfortable to
comment on an issue that we have not yet deliberated.”
Sources close to Mr Mwonzora’s camp said some of the issues
contained in his letter were that some seven districts in Manicaland were
disfranchised from the nomination process.
“Seven districts are a significant number that can affect a
result,” said the source.
Another issue raised was that ZCTU was not in charge of the
process but in essence, the congress was being run by the organising department
led by Mr Amos Chibaya who is also a candidate.
“Other issues were that congress was being held at night
under unsafe circumstances. Another thorny issue raised in the letter was that
other candidates were not being allowed to contest. There was also a lot of
violence perpetrated on those perceived to be against Chamisa,” said the
source.
Another issue raised by Mr Mwonzora was that the electoral
college was tampered with to suit certain candidates.
“The electoral college kept on changing. People who did not
qualify to vote were allowed to do so while some of those qualified were barred
from contesting,” said the source.
Some delegates complained that venues of provincial
congresses would suddenly change and also cited poor planning, failure to
organise transport to ferry people to the venue.
MDC Alliance spokesperson, Mr Jacob Mafume said in some
instances they had to change venues because of adverse weather.
“There is nothing called change of venue and transport
challenges at a congress. We are all aware of the fuel situation in the
country. We are all aware that it had begun raining therefore, people can
choose to go to a sheltered place.
“You cannot continue having a congress at an open space
when the weather report tells you it will rain. We have also made sure that a
quorum is met. Once it was met, congress proceeded,” said Mr Mafume. Herald
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