The Sunday News
Harare Bureau
ZANU-PF has set an ambitious target to mobilise over five million supporters to register to vote and seal emphatic victory for the party in the 2018 harmonised elections.
The revolutionary outfit has already activated its expansive mobilisation systems, with a nationwide headcount of members from cell to national levels underway.
Each provincial executive has been mandated to gather 500 000 supporters to bring the ultimate tally of potential Zanu-PF votes to five million-plus.
The party is also ramping up campaigns in urban areas, particularly Harare and Bulawayo — the beleaguered opposition MDC-T’s perceived strongholds.
In addition, district and provincial structures are being organised and attuned to the envisaged grand ballot harvest.
Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration Dr Ignatius Chombo last week confirmed that the party was oiling its election machinery, before referring further enquiries to the Commissariat.
National Political Commissar Cde Saviour Kasukuwere told our Harare Bureau; We have started our mobilisation campaign, and all provinces are hard at work; restructuring our structures from cell level. From a national perspective, we are targeting to have more votes than those we had in 2013.
“We had 2,1 million voters then, so the target is to beat that number. It is public knowledge that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has announced its plan to register seven million prospective voters for the polls.
“Therefore, what we have said is that if seven million people are registering, then five million of those people should be our supporters. Initially, we were looking at figures like three million, but we are not leaving anything to chance.”
Cde Kasukuwere continued: “We are not taking anything to chance, so we are schooling all our structures so that they understand what polling station-based voting is all about.
“So, look at it this way: In every ward, we should know our supporters. This is a comprehensive exercise. Our plan is that by the time voter registration starts, we will have our figures at hand.”
On demographic dynamics, Cde Kasukuwere said, “We feel that youths are going to be crucial in next year’s elections, and we need to speak to their aspirations. We have our traditional voters, but we need to do more to woo youths because previous elections have witnessed a lot of voter apathy from young people.
About 5 874 115 people registered to vote in the 2013 plebiscite. Of these, 3 480 047 cast ballots in the Presidential poll, while 3 377 276 participated in Parliamentary elections.
