Back to Index

ZEC Independence: ZANU PF will still rig
Youth Forum
February 24, 2011

The recent admission by Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe, the chairperson of the embattled Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), that the country needs more resources and time to revamp the voters' roll should be amplified with hailers to those who are calling for an early election. It is a lucid and unambiguous message that the country is not yet ready for an election, not only in terms of readiness of the electorate, but technical readiness on the part of the commission responsible for running the election. It is unfortunate that the five months the former judge proclaims is needed is still not enough, not with the current state of the decrepit and ramshackle Voters' Roll.

The decorous electorate should be given ample time to register as the process does not necessarily call for the amendment of the current roll, but the creation of a new, compact and acceptable voters' roll as the current one is near ineptness.

The call for ZEC's independence by Minister Patrick Chinamasa is analogous to applying expensive cosmetics to a baboon to make it appear beautiful and humane when we can all see it's a baboon. This is simple window-dressing as we all know ZEC is only an overseer, the rigging engine room is the Registrar General's office, still headed by the Mugabe-appointee and ZANU PF stalwart Tobaiwa Mudede whose primary electoral responsibility is 'to update the voters roll'. ZEC's role is 'to supervise the registration of voters by the Registrar's office'.

Mudede's roles also include 'the preparation and updating of the voters' roll, qualification and disqualification of 'voters', the conduct of elections and the efficient management of an election'. The constituency registrars, deputy constituency registrars and assistant constituency registrars (presiding officers) will all be appointed by Mudede and they will obviously be ZANU PF sympathizers and it is their duty to declare the candidate who would have won the duly elected Member of Parliament. With ZEC professing independence, Mugabe's rigging machinery is still in place and intact.

It is ZEC that will be under the microscopic eye of the local, regional an international media and observers while the R.G's office will be busy rigging for Mugabe and his cronies.

The Youth Forum urges all youths to go and register to vote in myriads so that we leave little room for the rigging machinery to maneuver after we vote in large numbers. The organization is currently undertaking activities aimed at mobilizing young people to go and vote in numbers and will continue to advocate for relaxing of requirements so as to allow more young people to vote.

Visit the Youth Forum fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP