Thursday, February 6, 2025
HomenewsEx-Minister vies for council seat in CCC confusion

Ex-Minister vies for council seat in CCC confusion

The Chronicle

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Michael Magoronga

[email protected]

FORMER Health and Child Care Minister, Dr Henry Madzorera (Citizens Coalition for Change CCC) has set the cat among the pigeons in the opposition party after filing his nomination for Kwekwe City Council’s Ward 10 at the Kwekwe Civic Centre.

The move has sharply divided party members who said Dr Madzorera, with the help of party leader Mr Nelson Chamisa, blindsided them as he had not campaigned for the post.

Dr Madzorera who was health minister during the Government of National Unit (GNU) and a senator who is highly regarded in the provincial party structures, shocked all and sundry when he filed his papers ahead of two other candidates who were mysteriously disqualified at the eleventh hour.

Bitter CCC members vowed to vote for other candidates as they felt the “climbdown from minister to council” was part of Mr Chamisa’s agenda to sideline party stalwarts.

The CCC had a shambolic day at the Nomination Court yesterday, 21 June, as candidates were announced at the last second, resulting in double nominations in some places while a number of disgruntled members who were disqualified by the party filed as independent candidates.

Thulani Mbano who overcame one Nherera in the party’s multi-stage selection process, was left dumbfounded after Dr Madzorera appeared and filed his nomination papers to represent the ward in the looming 23 August election.

In an interview after the nomination, Dr Madzorera said his nomination was based on ‘behind the scenes’ reasons, adding being a councilor was a more important job.

“The reasons are behind the scenes but you know people think that from a senator to a councilor is a climbdown but being a councilor is a much more important job than being an MP or a senator. We deal with real issues that affect the people like the budget, the roads and water issues among others. Local governance should be taken seriously as it is tantamount to a ministry on its own,” he said.

His nomination however did not go down well with fellow party members who accused their President Nelson Chamisa of being a dictator.

“This is not fair, never a day did he (Dr Madzorera) campaign, only to come on the nomination day. This is not fair and I tell you it’s better to vote for other parties than to allow this unfairness to continue,” said one party member on condition of anonymity.

Dr Madzorera will battle it out with businessman and philanthropist Dr Solomon Matsa of Zanu-PF, Aaron Ozman of UZA and independent candidate Ruvimbo Tafara.

While the Dr Madzorera ‘s nomination was the highlight of the day, the CCC displayed their state of confusion with some candidates openly arguing as to who should file their nominations.

Some disgruntled candidates who felt hard done were in a last-minute hustle to file their nominations as independent candidates but could not make it.

In sharp contrast, the ruling Zanu PF party exhibited the highest level of orderliness as a District Coordinating Committee member, Cde Asam Musa, submitted the nomination paper for all the 14 aspiring councilors.

Kwekwe DCC Spokesperson, Cde Wallace Musiiwa said the nomination was flawless.

“We are grateful that we successfully filed our nomination for all our 14 candidates. We did have a problem of one member whose name was not appearing on the voters’ roll due to delimitation issues, but that was quickly solved. Battle lines have been drawn and we are now ready to work,” he said.

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