National Chairperson Hon Morgen Komichi’s statement to the Press
Morgan Tsvangirai House, Harare
29 May 2018
Primary Elections
The People’s Party of Excellence, MDC, has conducted its Primary elections and we now have a list of our parliamentary candidates, who will represent the MDC T Alliance in the 2018 Elections.
Our Alliance partners are fielding their candidates and we are working closely together to field the best candidate for the area. Negotiations are taking place among our Alliance Partners in areas where, for instance, our candidate is weak and an alliance candidate is strong, so that a stronger candidate will stand in such constituencies. In this process, we have also respected the women and youth quota.
We concluded the consensus building process, and we attended to the consensus appeals. We then moved to the next level which was the holding of primary elections. We are pleased that our elections where conducted by an independent commission in a very democratic way. We are pleased as a party.
We are currently dealing with all the primary elections appeals. The Appeals tribunal is ceased with these matters. However, the party is investigating allegations of violence and those who are found wanting will be penalised.
80% of the constituencies have been covered and we will be done with all the gap constituencies by this Saturday.
Voters’ Roll Inspection
Today marks the last day of the voters’ roll inspection. The anomalies have been glaring and telling. These anomalies justify our deafening calls for an independent audit of the Biometric Voters’ Roll.
Reported incidences of details sent on cellphones from ZEC not corresponding with the physical roll are worrisome. Some names are entered correctly, but the gender is incorrect. Others have received messages confirming their registration centres but upon physical inspection, realised they had been posted to a different polling station, or their names were missing completely from the roll.
We have also received reports where people are re-registering themselves but in different wards and constituencies. A case in point is the registration of residents of ward 45 in Harare East onto the ward 25 of Goromonzi South voters’ roll. And the commissioner of oaths to the residential affidavits is one Terrence Mukupe whose recent notorious and treasonous utterances that the Zanu PF regime will not accept an election result that favours the opposition, leaves a lot to be desired.
If ZEC can not produce a clean voters’ roll, then it casts an aspersion on the credibility of this upcoming election. Little wonder why there was little information and voter education on inspecting the Voter’s roll, and the refusal by ZEC to give us a copy of the provisional voters’ roll.
We demand a searchable copy of this voters’ roll so that we are able to assist ZEC in identifying all the duplicates and fictitious names in the current roll.
Ballot Paper Printing
We are barely a month away from the election and our demand for an open tender system with regards to the printing of the ballot papers and other election materials has been ignored by the Mnangagwa administration.
The MDC will not allow for the only amendment to section 22A of the Electoral Act that allows the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to establish more polling stations for an area that has a larger voter population. We will not accept the establishment of undesignated polling stations as this will open the vote to manipulation.
For the avoidance of doubt, the following matters remain outstanding and need urgent resolution:-
a. Observation of the printing of the ballot papers
b. External/ Independent audit of the voters’ roll
c. Militarisation of ZEC
d. Militarisation of the electoral process
e. Diaspora Vote
f. That this election be SADC and AU guaranteed.
We demand that these and other reforms be implemented if this country is going to have a truly free, fair and credible election.
I thank you.
Komichi
