The ruling Zanu Patriotic Front has deployed members of the Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ) group ahead of tomorrow’s by-elections in Harare East and Mount Pleasant.
The group was on a whirlwind during the country’s coordinated elections in August last year after setting up “exit poll” offices outside polling stations where they questioned voters about who they voted for and which party they voted for.
At the time, the ruling party was evasive and never openly associated with the political mainstream.
The two constituencies became vacant when Fadzai Mahiri and Rusty Markham resigned from Parliament in solidarity with former Citizens Alliance for Change leader Nelson Chamisa after he left the party due to infiltration by the ruling party.
Zano PF has She revealed that she deployed members of FAZ and Heritage Trust to every polling station to ensure victory in the by-election.
The leadership has left no stone unturned to ensure total victory, Harare regional party vice president Ephraim Fundukwa told Vice President Constantine Chiwenga at a rally in Harare East yesterday.
“I want to tell you cum [Chiwenga] That Harare Provincial team is working hard. We have 50 polling stations for the by-elections. “In each polling station, we have formed teams of 20 members,” he said.
“The teams are led by the provinces, FAZ, the Heritage Fund and members of Young Women for ED who are campaigning.”
FAZ president Kudakwashe Munsaka told NewsDay yesterday that there was nothing sinister about the deployment of members by the ruling party because they were affiliated with Zanu PF.
“We have said many times that we are affiliated with Zanu PF and that has not changed. Yes, in fact, if the party sends us to assist its campaign in any planned by-elections or any restructuring exercises of its machinery, we will willingly oblige. We live to serve, as our slogan affirms aptly”.
FAZ emerged during Zanu PF’s restructuring programs in 2022, leading to chaotic party primaries in which it was accused of skewing votes in favor of certain candidates within the party.
During the coordinated elections held from 23 to 24 August last year, the group attracted widespread condemnation from the opposition Central Coordination Committee and observer missions, who accused it of being part of the ZANU-PF party’s vote-rigging mechanism.
In their recommendations after the 2023 elections, foreign observer missions provided scathing assessments of the role of the Zairian armed forces in the referendum. Fabio Massimo Castaldo, head of the European Union election observation mission, said members of the Zambian armed forces intimidated voters.
In its report, the Commonwealth Mission Monitoring Mission also raised concerns about the mandatory presence of armed forces in rural areas, sentiments shared by the SADC Mission Monitoring Mission. Newsday
