HomeOld_PostsUnpacking ZEC’s electoral plan

Unpacking ZEC’s electoral plan

Published on

BY the time we arrived in Harare on Wednesday morning, word might have already reached critics of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) that their infantile propaganda had been engulfed by the same inferno they had unsuccessfully tried to unleash on the country’s mother electoral body.
Until about five years ago when the Russians signed and sealed a platinum deal with the Government of Zimbabwe, the only significant thing about Darwendale was the road that President Robert Mugabe uses when going to his rural home in Zvimba, making it all the more special.
On Sunday, journalists from across the board made their way to the sprawling Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management (ZIPAM) in Darwendale for a two-day ZEC workshop on electoral issues.
The curiosity was naturally on the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) model which the country has adopted for the first time in its electoral history.
The BVR system identifies eligible voters using unique individual identification techniques such as fingerprints and iris identification.
With the country using the BVR system for the first time there are bound to be challenges but crucially the model will establish a new voters’ roll ahead of next year’s elections.
Elections in Zimbabwe are always replete with a usual chorus from the opposition and unrestrained attacks on ZEC from the same.
It is always the nature of any losing political party in Zimbabwe to cry foul before and after each and every election such that they cushion themselves from embarrassing defeats by latching on to this or that issue as reason for their dismal performances.
Each time before an election, there is always this nagging, chronic and now nauseating tendency, especially by the opposition MDC-T to cry foul over what they say is vote ‘rigging’.
And poor ZEC, forever the target of that vitriol, to its credit was there in Darwendale answering to every question on how it conducts elections in the country.
They were all there in Darwendale, ZEC experts, attending to every detail; some bizarre, others obviously questions posed by political parties on this creature called BVR.
Darwendale itself is a stubborn caricature of nature that lingers and looms large with its enthralling giant and unmistakable frame on a dam that defiantly refuses to dry.
It is a small town that quietly goes about it business undeterred by the goings on from other towns, especially Harare where all the havoc emanates.
There, in Harare, has been the noise about the forthcoming elections going to be ‘stolen’ by the supercharged ZANU PF.
There, in Harare, is the MDC-T’s Douglas Mwonzora trying to stop the voter registration exercise.
There, in Harare, is the eccentric Obert Gutu deafeningly claiming ZANU PF has rigged this election.
Like the Darwendale Dam, ZEC also refused to dry, to be cowed into lying to the nation about how it goes about its business.
“We thrive on transparency,’ said ZEC vice-chairperson Emmanuel Magade.
But there, in Darwendale, was ZEC’s acting director for voter registration, Collins Munetsi, telling journalists that the electoral mother body would deliver the remaining 2 600 BVR kits earlier than initially anticipated and will commence a national voter registration blitz.
ZEC launched the voter registration exercise recently and is expecting to register about seven million voters.
While the voter registration drive did not admittedly get to the best of starts, in Darwendale, the many unfounded concerns were put to rest as Munetsi explained the process in detail.
Munetsi revealed that 400 kits were already in the country while the remainder will be delivered earlier than scheduled.
“We are expecting 2 600 kits any time soon. According to the date we had been given by the supplier, they were supposed to be delivered on October 12, but there is an indication from the supplier that they will come much earlier than that,” he said.
“As soon as they come, we will not wait, we will immediately start the blitz and that is the reason we are not firming on a start date because the supplier is very positive that they will come much earlier.”
According to ZEC, about 8 500 kit operators were being trained in preparation for the blitz, while
10 000 voter registration centres would be opened countrywide.
The registration blitz would be done in four phases where kits would be deployed at a centre for 16 days of continuous registration before moving to the next centre for another 16 days until the exercise ends.
“This exercise, according to our calculations, will take us two-and-half months, all things being equal,” said Munetsi.
“When the blitz comes, the voter registration will be at people’s doorsteps, in each and every ward so people have no reason to spend the whole day at Remembrance (one of the two district registration centres in Harare) wanting to register when we are going to come closer to where they reside.”
When everything has been said and done, what will happen is that the registration will flow without any of the challenges that the opposition is hoping for.
Then the elections will be held again without any problems and the MDC-T and any other political party hoping to march to State House will be stopped in their tracks.
Now that ZEC has shown the transparency that it has always been known for next year’s elections will silence the country’s enemies.
Let those with ears listen.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest articles

Kariba Municipality commits to President’s service delivery blueprint

By Kundai Marunya IT is rare to find opposition-controlled urban councils throwing their weight on...

The resurgence of Theileriosis in 2024 

THE issues of global changes, climate change and tick-borne diseases cannot be ignored, given...

Britain haunted by its hostile policy on Zimbabwe

TWO critical lessons drawn from the recent debate on Zimbabwe in the British House...

The contentious issue of race

 By Nthungo YaAfrika AS much as Africans would want to have closure to many of...

More like this

Kariba Municipality commits to President’s service delivery blueprint

By Kundai Marunya IT is rare to find opposition-controlled urban councils throwing their weight on...

The resurgence of Theileriosis in 2024 

THE issues of global changes, climate change and tick-borne diseases cannot be ignored, given...

Britain haunted by its hostile policy on Zimbabwe

TWO critical lessons drawn from the recent debate on Zimbabwe in the British House...

Discover more from Celebrating Being Zimbabwean

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading