Defiant Nelson Chamisa Party Rejects ZEC’s Shambolic Voters’ Roll

In a latest development that is poised to put next weekend’s anticipated by-elections in a state of disaster, the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party Wednesday downrightly rejected the shambolic voters’ roll released by Zimbabwe’s bungling electoral-governing Zec for use in the forthcoming polls.

Claiming that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s current voters’ roll is fraught with glaring irregularities, the Nelson Chamisa-led CCC has, instead, demanded that the 2018 roll be used in the impending elections which will be used as a barometer by contesting political establishments to ascertain their readiness ahead of the crucial harmonised elections to be held next year.

The latest move by the CCC comes at a time when Zec which stands accused of traditionally pandering to the whims of the long ruling Zanu PF to rig elections in Zimbabwe- has been at the messy of data analysts, Team Pachedu’s damning and verifiable exposés of malpractices.

On Tuesday, the poll-governing commission hogged the media limelight, for all the wrong reasons once again, after they disputably suggested that separate voters rolls for the local authority and the National Assembly polls were going to be used in next Saturday’s crunch by-elections.

And, quite expectedly, CCC’s national publicist, Fadzayi Mahere told journalists in Harare that they wanted Zec to use the 2018 voters’ roll version and the 2008 delimited ward and constituency boundaries.

Said Mahere:

“We are watching Zec’s conduct very closely in this by-election. This by-election will give us a sense of their readiness and capacity to act lawfully and fairly in the 2023 elections. The CCC has concluded that the current state of the voters roll is not fit for the purposes of the impending by-elections or any other purposes thereof. CCC is making frantic engagements with Zec and is also taking up legal measures to compel Zec to revert to the 2018 voters roll.”

Highly evidenced statistics from the rabble-rousing Team Pachedu indicate that over 177 000 registered voters have been inexplicably moved constituencies.

Instead of offering substantial explanations to the nation, Zec has failed to explain the anomalies.

Thousands of other voters were registered under incomplete addresses that do not meet the VR1 requirements for rural voters.

“Zec must show true and sincere commitment to act in accordance with the Constitution or it must be disbanded.  The statement made by Zec recently refusing to account for the gross irregularities on the voters roll is unconstitutional and unacceptable,” Mahere added.

CCC deputy secretary for elections, Ellen Shiriyedenga said the opposition party on February 25, 2022 wrote to Zec requesting an update on the printing of ballot papers, suppliers, but did not get a satisfactory answer.

“However, Zec only responded by indicating that the information will be available through publications. Although the publication was subsequently made, it is against the spirit of transparency and good corporate practices that Zec as a public enterprise had no courtesy to even discuss the issue at the multi-party liaison committees,” Shiriyidenga said.

This is not the first time that data analysts have poked holes into the voters roll, which critics say expose election rigging.

In 2018, Team Pachedu revealed that it had uncovered 250 000 names that were either wrong, invalid, duplicates, had incorrect identity numbers and scores of voters registered using addresses open spaces.

When contacted by the privately run NewsDay last night, Zec chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana requested questions in writing while Joyce Kazembe, the spokesperson, was not picking up her mobile.

Political analyst Alex Magaisa warned the opposition party against boycotting elections if Zec refuses to use the 2018 voters roll.

“It depends on the party’s decision, but boycotting the election is not recommended. It will only dampen the spirits of the supporters. It is important to note that the issue of the voter roll is just one of the many tactics that authoritarian leaders could use to discourage the opposition from participating in electoral processes,” Magaisa said. private media.

Zwnews