By Garikai Mafirakureva
Zanu PF supporters in Chiredzi booed and hauled insults at the party’s Masvingo provincial Women’s League chairperson Alignia Samson and Chiredzi West MP Farai Musikavanhu at victory celebrations held in the sugar growing town on Wednesday.
Most Zanu PF bigwigs based in Chiredzi, who were invited for the celebrations also snubbed the event that was held at Tshovani Stadium. The MPs had to leave in a huff when the situation got tense.
Party supporters said Zanu PF erred when it selected Samson to be Chiredzi’s proportional representative and claimed that Musikavanhu rigged the primary election.
All hell broke loose when each ward was allocated 6kg of meat for the celebrations, which they claimed was rotten.
Zanu PF Masvingo provincial spokesperson Ronald Ndava confirmed the incident.
He said supporters should be educated on the issue of belittling and taunting their chosen representatives.
On the rotten meat, Ndava said he was not qualified to comment, as he was not a specialist in food.
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“I think on the issue of rejecting the leaders they chose in the first place; people should be educated before it gets out of hand. On the other hand, the celebrations coincided with various other national events like the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. That is why most invited guests did not attend,” he said.
“I cannot say the meat was rotten and not fit for human consumption, because I am not a meat specialist. I just think our people overreacted because the meat they were allocated was the first batch. There was more to come. It should also be taken into consideration that the meat was being kept in various wards, so maybe one or two refrigerators malfunctioned.”
Samson admitted that she was booed and heckled.
However, she said such incidents were expected in politics before cutting off her phone.
Musikavanhu flatly denied that he was attacked, saying he had a good rapport between him and party supporters. When quizzed further, he referred all the questions to Samson.
“This was not a joint celebration. As you may recall, we held very successful Chiredzi West constituency celebrations in December 2018 at Chishamiso Stadium. The function on Wednesday April 24, 2019 was for the Chiredzi district women’s quota MP, which was being held in Chiredzi West constituency,” Musikavanhu said.
“I did not witness that. If anything, as the MP for the constituency where the function was held, I was assisting with logistics, including transport services and was working very well with everyone. I, therefore, suggest that you direct your questions to that MP.”
