Correspondent|ZIMBABWE Electoral Commission (ZEC) Chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba says she and her fellow Commissioners are unfazed by the attacks they received during the 2018 elections and continue to receive on social media and other platforms.

Chigumba has said some of the voters and opposition leaders who picketed ZEC offices were ignorant of the demands they were calling for versus the Electoral Act.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 2018 Multistakeholder Post-Elections Review Conference currently underway in Nyanga, Chigumba said those threats and abuses did not make her a victim in any way as she rose above hate speech.

“These attacks on our personas in particular were basically different opinions by our voters on whether or not we had executed our duties well.

“We decided to ignore and proceeded with our mandate and I believe we discharged our mandate to the best of our abilities,” said Chigumba.

Chigumba became a subject of abuse especially online where mainly members of the opposition parties bullied her as they accused her of being a puppet of the ruling party led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

On two separate attempts, the MDC Alliance and other political parties threatened to invade ZEC offices intending to confront Chigumba on their demands which they wanted addressed a few days before the election.

She said the female commissioners had to undergo a counselling session as they assured themselves that they were on the right path.

“We had counselling amongst ourselves and told each other that we took oath of office and we agreed in terms of the Constitution that we run elections,” she added.

During the run-up to the elections, the opposition political party would picket ZEC offices and would come back with the same demands again despite the demands having been clearly outlined in the Electoral Act.

Chigumba said some of the voters and leaders who picketed their offices were ignorant of the demands they were calling for .

“It is my considered view that a lot of what transpired during the elections arose from a position of ignorance from our main stakeholders who are the voters,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ms Virginia Mabhiza, while giving her opening remarks at 2018 Elections Review Conference, encouraged participants to be candid in their deliberations.

ZEC Commissioner Dr. Qhubani Moyo said the the conference helps them look at what worked well, what did not work well and what needs to be done going forward as Zimbabwe builds up to the 2023 elections.