The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) says it is withholding the names of those who have been nominated, claiming the process is still being finalised since the nominated candidates must go through a rigorous vetting procedure.
CCC held its candidate nomination selection process on Wednesday but it was hampered by uncertainty, logistical issues, and delays in several parts of the country, although party officials expressed optimism about the process.
Dr Thokozani Khupe, Jasmine Toffa, Minenhle Gumede, Elvis Mujeri, Swithern Chirowodza, Tinashe Kambarami, and Mxolisi Mahlangu are among the names said to be nominated for parliamentary seats in Bulawayo.
Dr Khupe is being billed as the CCC’s parliamentary candidate for Cowdray Park, where she would face Zanu PF’s Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, but a party source said it was “social media speculation.”
The party official said the process was being handled by an independent panel and the nominees would be announced once all the procedures have been completed.
“The list has not been given to the province it is an independent body that is doing the compilation and it is the independent body that has taken the papers for the validation and vetting process,” he said adding that it would be premature to announce names.
“Even in cases where we knew or know so and so has been nominated, it would be prejudicial to those who do not know. It will also be prejudicial to people who are less known at this stage to mention their names.”
The official said the list of names would probably come out in the next two weeks or so.
“My assumption is the full process will take two weeks to a month because there are four other stages that need to be done, which culminate with the consensus process. We have the validation process, vetting process, stakeholder process and then the consensus as the end part before the announcement of candidates,” he said.
“So all of that is not within the control of the province. It will be jumping the gun if anyone was to pre-empt the list and that is if they have had access in the first place.”
According to sources, Kambarami was running for MP because the party leadership said he could not run for council after all the contestations he had as deputy mayor.
As for Dr Khupe, sources said she was still deciding which seat to run for because she was ordered to stand in Cowdray Park but wanted to contest in Bulawayo North.
