BULAWAYO – Citizens Coalitions for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa says the party has deployed 12,374 agents to all polling stations across the country and will conduct parallel voter tabulation to ensure Wednesday’s election is not rigged.
Chamisa was addressing thousands of supporters at White City Stadium in Bulawayo on Sunday, where said he had informed Southern African Development Community (SADC) observers about plans to rig the election through “ghost polling stations.”
He said: “I told SADC that we’re having problems with ghost polling stations. They want to bring ghost polling stations so that they will then stuff the ballot papers. But you know what? Out of the 12,374 or so polling stations we have made sure that there is a polling agent per every polling station.”
In what was his penultimate rally, Chamisa said they were going to release results of their parallel count on August 24 – risking confrontation with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which has warned candidates and journalists against calling the election.
“I have also told SADC that they (Zanu PF) want to make sure that they get the presidential vote (result) first and report back to ZEC so that they can play around with the result,” Chamisa said.
“But we have said to ourselves, V11s, once we get our results we’re going to tell the world what we would have gotten. We will be the first ones to know the results. We will not accept to be cheated on again. We will have the result by the following day (August 24).”
Chamisa narrowly lost to incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2018. He failed in a court bid to overturn the result because his party then, the MDC Alliance, had not deployed agents to all polling stations and did not have the so-called V11s, a results form produced at each polling station which is publicly displayed at the end of the count.
Chamisa said he was giving election observers who were not invited by the government updates on the electoral processes.
“We have also advised the United Nations… they were not invited. But we’re briefing all the delegations, I’m briefing the Chinese delegation today (Sunday), I’m briefing the Commonwealth. They all want to hear our views and we have told them that any result that will put Mnangagwa ahead of Chamisa is a fake result.
“The reality is that Mnangagwa is going to be Number 2, we are winning this election; we have won this election. Thank you! Congratulations Zimbabwe!”
Chamisa called on rural voters to defy harassment and intimidation to vote to end Zanu PF’s 43-year rule.
He vowed to resuscitate Bulawayo’s status as the country ‘s industrial hub and to revive the National Railways of Zimbabwe if voted into power.
He also said his party would move Parliament to the Midlands and set up offices for the presidency in Bulawayo, allowing him to alternate work days between the city and Harare.
