THE opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) yesterday accused top government officials of lying to diplomats and foreign observer missions accredited to cover the August 23 elections.
The CCC accused authorities of “cooking” up figures of its unsanctioned party rallies as well as “lying” that the opposition party had unfettered access to national broadcaster, ZBC.
Home Affairs secretary Gerald Gwinji told diplomats and observers on Monday that police sanctioned 345 CCC gatherings to go ahead and only turned down 65 out of 410 notifications.
Gwinji said out of a total of 1 437 notifications from Zanu PF, 1 351 were compliant while 86 were not sanctioned.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services deputy minister Kindness Paradza told election observers that most opposition parties refuse to utilise free airtime on the national broadcaster.
CCC spokesperson, Fadzayi Mahere said statistics presented by Gwindi were inaccurate.
“Respectfully, the position as presented by Mr Gwinji is grossly inaccurate,” Mahere told NewsDay.
“To date, 101 CCC rallies have been banned or disrupted unconstitutionally. We have never ever seen a Zanu PF rally being banned or even disrupted.
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“We challenge the police to produce proof of this. We continue to demand a fair playing field which includes the freedom to campaign peacefully.”
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi was not reachable for comment.
In a statement, Mahere also said Paradza’s ZBC claims were false.
“It is a matter of public record that ZBC refuses to give independent or fair coverage to the CCC, our presidential candidate advocate Nelson Chamisa, our star rallies, cluster rallies, rural penetration drive, campaign messages or any of our wide-ranging political activities,” she said.
“Not only is the State media’s coverage unequal, but whatever token coverage is accorded to the opposition is biased, derogatory and manipulated, in contravention of the Constitution and the electoral law.”
Mahere said the CCC was readily available to participate on all-fairly moderated platforms which adhere to constitutional standards.
“We further challenge ZBC to afford our candidate the opportunity on a live and unfettered platform, to present his message of hope to the nation, in the same way in which it provides live, wall-to-wall coverage of Mnangagwa, Zanu PF activities and rallies,” she said.
