BULAWAYO – The reported situation regarding Eric Gono, the parliamentary candidate for the Lobengula-Magwegwe constituency imposed by Advocate Nelson Chamisa’s CCC party, highlights potential weaknesses in the party’s opaque nature and candidate vetting process, according to Prof. Jonathan Moyo.
It also brings to light concerns related to Gono’s failure to fulfill his community service sentence after being found guilty of public violence in July 2018.
While his co-accused, Mlandu Ncube and Felix Mhaka, reportedly appealed their conviction and sentence, Gono did not appeal and allegedly skipped his community service.
Prof. Moyo wrote on his tweeter account that:
CCC’S LOBENGULA-MAGWEGWE CANDIDATE ERIC GONO IN A MAI TITI SPOT OF BOTHER
In a twist that would expose the weaknesses of CCC as an opaque party based on Advocate Nelson Chamisa’s controversial ‘strategic ambiguity’ politics also known as ‘sukukuviri’, while… pic.twitter.com/T1ktM6TWCJ
— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) June 25, 2023
The lack of clarity surrounding Gono’s compliance with his sentence raises questions about his eligibility as a candidate and whether he obtained a police clearance, which is typically required for nomination in elections.
The manual nature of the police’s database further complicates the process of retrieving criminal records for vetting purposes.
Drawing a parallel with the case of Mai Titi, it is suggested that the police could potentially confirm whether Gono fulfilled his community service sentence or not.
At present, Gono finds himself in a precarious situation, as his nomination as a CCC parliamentary candidate and his personal freedom may be at stake.
