Political Reporter
The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Candidate Independent Selection Panel (CISP) has been accused of demanding bribes from that party’s aspiring candidates to tilt the selection process in their favour.
A source who spoke to this publication said that the CCC candidate selection process had been marred by allegations of bribery and vote buying as aspiring candidates were desperate to be given the nod to represent that party in the forthcoming parliamentary and local authority elections.
“The CISP is being accused of accepting bribes to manipulate the candidate selection process in favour of those who would have paid the kickbacks. The selection process is no longer transparent as those with money are tipped to sail through. Money is exchanging hands and candidates with a better financial backing or those who are aligned to Nelson Chamisa will sail through,” said the source.
The source further accused Norton aspiring candidate, Samuel Matemere of bribery and vote buying to influence the nomination process.
A named top CCC official superintending over the process has also been accused of colluding with some officials running the process so he could name Matemere as that party’s choice for the poll.
“Matemere has paid rowdy individuals, some of whom are non-Norton residents to participate during the community consensus process so that when he presents his manifesto during the meetings, they scream his name and present an impression that he is the popular choice,” said the source.
Matemere is also accused of hiring party official, Ralph Magunje, to bribe some commissioners running the painstaking process to name him as the people’s choice for Norton constituency.
Meanwhile, CCC is in the middle of an unprecedented candidate selection exercise which is meant to draw a list of candidates to represent it in the forthcoming elections.
The process, run by the CISP commissioners, is a departure from primary elections that the party has used in past polls. However, the process has been criticised by some CCC members as not being transparent as swell as open to manipulation.
