HARARE – AN aspiring Zanu PF MP is hiring 60 kombis to ferry residents to town – but insists he is not taking them for a ride.
Godwin Gomwe, who is running for MP in Budiriro in the July 30 elections, on Monday hired kombis to transport commuters between the constituency and Harare City Centre all day – spending thousands of dollars in the process and risking accusations of vote buying.
A single trip is $0.50 between Budiriro and the city centre.
“We started this on Monday, but we’ve decided that we do it on selected days. So we approached about 60 kombis that operate in Budiriro and paid them for the whole day on Monday,” he told H-Metro.
“I know that some will call it vote buying but that’s not the case here. Since people will be busy with work, we can’t do rallies frequently and thought of an idea to meet them.
“So when they enter those kombis, they will get fliers with information of their candidate.”
Gomwe, who will battle the MDC Alliance’s Costa Machingauta for the seat, said some kombis he had paid for the exercise started charging passengers who were not aware of the “promotion”.
He has vowed to do it again next Wednesday – transporting residents of Budiriro 1, 2, 4 and 5, and potential voters, into town and back all day.
“We don’t want a situation whereby residents will be asked to pay, their MP has already paid in advance,” said the Zanu PF youth league leader.
“We have a team that will monitor the kombis; it’s open to all people of Budiriro. We just want them to know their MP.”
He accused his MDC Alliance rival of “failing to bring development”.
“Through this initiative, they’re now aware of the right candidate to vote into parliament,” he said.
