by Political Reporter
Recalled Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance (MDC-A) Bulawayo Ward 24 Councillor, Arnold Batirai Dube, has been found guilty of electoral malpractice emanating from 2018 harmonized elections.
Bulawayo magistrate Tinashe Tashaya, on Wednesday convicted Dube of forging letters and printing pamphlets insinuating that the then Bulawayo Ward 24 Councillor, Gideon Mangena, had been expelled from the MDC-Alliance, hence he was not eligible to stand as a candidate on behalf of that party.
A contact from Bulawayo who confided in this publication said Dube indeed distributed pamphlets near polling stations in a bid to dissuade people from voting for Mangena.
“Dube is being accused of creating fake letters denouncing the then Ward 24 Councillor, Gideon Mangena, claiming that he had been expelled from the party and that he (Dube) was the only standing candidate. Dube and his accomplices distributed these letters early in the morning before polling commenced. The idea was to dissuade the MDC-Alliance supporters from voting for Mangena,” said the contact.
The contact further said that Dube pleaded not guilty before magistrate Tashaya. However, after a full trial, the courts found him guilty.
Magistrate Tashaya ruled after a full trial that evidence presented by State witnesses was overwhelming and the court retained a verdict of guilty as charged.
The Harare Post heard that on the polling day in 2018, Dube positioned himself within 100 metres of the polling station at the Salvation Army in Ward 24 and started to distribute letters that falsely asserted that he was the sole candidate citing that Mangena had been expelled from the party. Dube was doing all this in a bid to mislead Ward 24 voters and short change his counterpart Mangena.
Mangena got wind of Dube’s shenanigans and quickly rushed to make a report to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) offices. Dube was later arrested and about 80 letters reportedly distributed by Dube were recovered.
Another source in Bulawayo said Dube had initially thought that the case was going to suffer a natural death after several postponements since 2018. However, some MDC-Alliance members who do not see eye to eye with Dube, continued to pester the courts for the finalization of Dube’s case.
“We all thought that Dube’s case had suffered a natural death. We were only surprised to learn that he was found guilty of the crime he committed some two years ago. The complainant, Mangena had already stopped pursuing the case, but some members who do not see eye to eye with Dube continued to pester the courts so that he could be jailed. Dube is only a victim of factionalism in the party,” said the source.
Dube is expected to be back in court on 21 December for sentencing.
