Zvamaida Murwira
Senior Reporter
AS Zimbabwe inches towards the August 23 harmonised elections, the Zimbabwe Election Commission (Zec) has secured most election materials that include ballot papers, ink and stationery.
In an interview with Zimpapers Television Network on Thursday evening, ZEC deputy chairperson, Ambassador Rodney Kiwa said they were already in the process of constituting an accreditation committee which will comprise other Government arms.
He said all commissioners who ordinarily work on a part-time basis except the chairperson and her deputy have since camped at ZEC head office on a full-time basis for the next six months as they put hands on the deck for the elections.
“We will be following the law, there are clear procedures we have to abide and there are also best practices we learn from other countries, we are doing everything to make sure that this plebiscite is beyond reproach, that is our objective, we are working towards that with all the commitment we have. The good thing is that as Zec we have no excuse because we are well-resourced. So far we have secured ballot papers, the ink, the pens, and all that is in place we are ready to go,” said Ambassador Kiwa.
He said all the seven commissioners are united for a common goal and have since found each other following reports of misunderstanding over the delimitation report that determined the boundaries of constituencies and wards.
“We have found ourselves. Our commissioners are part-time except the chair and deputy. When there are no electoral activities they will be away. But starting today and for the next six months they will be full-time at Zec, they have found each other.
“The Vice President (Dr Constantino Chiwenga) played a key role in making us find each other. I am pleased with the way we are now engaging each other. In fact, we had a productive meeting in Bulawayo a few weeks ago,” said Ambassador Kiwa.
“The Vice President called us and told us to look at the bigger picture, Zimbabwe is bigger than all of us and we took his advice. I can authoritatively say there is no divided Zec”.
He said reports that some people had their wards, constituencies, or polling stations changed are normal after a delimitation process.
“We are however driven by one principle, that no voter will travel for more than five km. The whole purpose was to respond to the legal requirements, in the process of determining boundaries, some will be allocated new polling stations, it is nothing unusual it comes with the process. For one to know his or her polling station is precisely why we have opened the voters’ roll for inspection. What I want to assure the public is that very few will be moved away from their polling stations,” said Ambassador Kiwa.
He said now that election dates have been proclaimed, Zec will embark on a massive voter education exercise.
“We are going into massive voter education through our trained personnel, we will do fliers, roadshow and engage the various stakeholders, for us to achieve the optimum, we engage all stakeholders including participating political parties,” he said.
ZEC, said Ambassador Kiwa, was in the process of forming an accreditation committee for foreign observers that will be constituted by other Government Ministries and departments.
It will comprise the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, and Immigration department among others.
He said the multi-liaison committee comprising all stakeholders which at national, provincial, and district should be utilised to narrow differences and eliminate disputes and conflicts.
“My message is we owe it to ourselves to come up with a peaceful election, we owe it to ourselves to bring credible election, we are in it this together, we as Zimbabweans are in this together,” said Ambassador Kiwa.
On Wednesday, President Mnangagwa proclaimed August 23, 2023, as the day on which harmonised elections will be held and fixed June 21, 2023, as the day on which the Nomination Court will sit to consider and accept candidates for Presidential, Parliamentary, and local authority elections.
The Nomination Court will sit at the High Court to consider Presidential candidates while it will sit at all the 10 provincial capitals for Parliamentary candidates.
The President has also set 2 October 2023 as the day for the run-off election, should there be no outright winner in the presidential election as contemplated by the Constitution.
The Nomination Court will sit at all council offices across the country to consider candidates for local authority elections.
In a statement, Zec advised aspiring candidates to file their nomination papers at the commission’s offices between now and 21 June, the day when the Nomination Courts will be sitting across the country.
“Presidential aspirants must be nominated by 10 registered voters in each of the country’s 10 provinces while prospective candidates for the National Assembly must be nominated by five registered voters in the respective contested constituencies. Those intending to contest as councillors must also be nominated by five registered voters in their respective wards” reads the statement in part.
Nomination fees for presidential aspirants is US$20 000, MPs will pay US$1000 and the fee for party list candidates is US$200.