RECENT meetings the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has been holding with individual political parties have raised concerns the body is not yet independent enough to preside over a free and fair poll.
Report by Elias Mambo/Herbert Moyo
Although Zec is mandated to provide electoral information to all parties, it is its meeting with Zanu PF that has raised suspicions after it emerged the body prepared a report advising the party to devise strategies to prevent voter apathy in national elections expected in June.
Zanu PF politburo sources told the Zimbabwe Independent the party is taking Zec’s recommendations seriously and included them in a report tabled at its conference in Gweru last month.
“They (Zec) gave us advice on dealing with voter apathy as a way of ensuring our success in the forthcoming elections,” said one source.
“We tabled those recommendations at the conference because we take them seriously.”
Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa said there is nothing wrong in getting reports from Zec.
“If you ask for anything from Zec they must give you their response and that will be a report,” said Mutasa. “Any party can contact Zec and ask them what they want to know concerning electoral issues.”
The Welshman Ncube-led MDC said Zec’s role should be limited to creating a conducive atmosphere for elections.
The MDC-T met Zec in November over the voters’ roll. The party has been calling for a complete overhaul of the Zec secretariat saying it is staffed with former soldiers and security officials.
In its Minimum Conditions for Sustainable Elections report, the MDC-T says “the new Zec must have the opportunity of recruiting staff afresh and not be saddled with legacy issues of the past”.
In the 2008 elections Zec withheld presidential poll results for five weeks after Zanu PF had lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since Independence.
Political observers said Zec should not hold separate meetings with political parties since it has always been suspected of having Zanu PF links.
“If Zec meets political parties separately it exposes its duplicity and partisan nature making it unfit to administer the next polls,” said Zimbabwe Democracy Institute director Pedzisai Ruhanya.
However, Zec deputy chairperson Joyce Kazembe refuted allegations of partisanship saying her organisation has an open-door policy.
so it was right that ZEC met MDC but when it met ZANU (PF) eyebrows are raised?
This is an issue MDC should have dealt with right from the start of the GNU. Do they think making noise about it now will change anything ???
Got the feeling that I am reading an MDC pamphlet.jounalism has gone to th dogs
This is a report by two journalists who conspire to give readres a raw deal. One would want to ask is it only permissable for ZEC to meet with MDC-T when it is not allowed to meet other political parties? Is it not the nuatrality we all cry for when ZEC meet all political parties. The report clearly indicates ZEC met with MDC-T to deal with the voter’s role in November, and hard on the heals was another meeting with Zanu. Thats what we call an open door policy surely. I don’t seem to get the sense of this article. Gutter journalism!!!!!!!!
ZEC should stop holding meetings with political parties separately but should meet the contesting parties together and all agree on the logistics of holding a credible ellection.It is not about MDC T,ZANU(PF) or MDC whatever, it is about the destiny of Zimbabwean lives we are talking about, period..
Whats wrong with that if Zanu or Mdc talk to Zec privately after its our vote that matters?
What’s wrong is that ZEC is selective in what data it gives to each party. ZANU-PF has been given detailed data about the voters roll (based on which they have manipulated and stolen the last 3 elections).
This same data is not given to MDC. I know for a fact that an electronic voters roll was available less than 10 years ago, but has been kept under wraps… only a manual/printed one is given to MDC.
If the electronic one was given analysts would very quickly be able to validate ghost/dead voters and prevent ZANU-PF stuffing ballots in those constituencies.
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