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Press statement on the arrest of three Election Resource Centre personnel
Election Resource Centre
May 13, 2013

The police in Harare yesterday (11th of May) arrested three Election Resource Centre personnel in Borrowdale on allegations of conducting voter education. The three, Moses Chikora (32 years), Farai Saungweme (23 years) and Wadzanai Nyakudya (23) were part of the X1G Mobile Caravan Campaign which is aimed at raising awareness on the need for young people to register as voters and take part in the actual voting process. The state holds that the trio acted against the law by distributing X1G branded T-Shirts and X1G CDs.

The arrest come barely after two separate incidences of harassment and intimidation of some X1G officials were recorded in Masvingo and Gweru respectively. On both occasions, (May 9, 2013) officials from X1G Campaign were briefly detained and questioned by individuals who identified themselves as state security agencies. The Masvingo incident witnessed eleven X1G officials and volunteers being stripped of their branded X1G t-Shirts at Great Zimbabwe University in full view of passersby as the officials claimed that there was no authority sought to conduct the campaign. The security details further confiscated all the branded T-shirts and paraphernalia which the X1G team was in possession of.

The X1G Campaign is a nationwide campaign which was launched publicly in June 2012 and the campaign is run through both print and electronic media, at times complemented by outreach activities that reach out to communities at grassroots level. The X1G campaign has also been utilizing mainstream radio stations, in the form of radio programs whose main import is to raise awareness amongst the young people on the need to register as voters. It is instructive to note that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has also been part of these programs, wherein the commission has participated in collaboration with the Election Resource Centre

Various initiatives have been used and will continue to be used to amplify the call for young people to register to vote especially in the wake of the mobile voter registration process. The campaign has worked firstly as an information bridge that was meant to service the needs of young people in Zimbabwe. Secondly the campaign targets to compliment the work done by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on mobilizing first time voters to register to vote.

Meanwhile, the Election Resource Centre shall continue to engage the relevant stakeholders who include Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and The Zimbabwe Republic Police to ensure a speedy resolution to the matter of the of the detained trio.

In conclusion, the Election Resource Centre commits to continue with it efforts towards encouraging young Zimbabweans to participate in electoral process in Zimbabwe.

Visit the Election Resource Centre fact sheet

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