PRESS STATEMENT
06 January 2022
CIVIC SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS (CSOs) STRONGLY LAMBAST ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC) FOR PUTTING NO EFFORT ON IMPROVING THE ELECTORAL ENVIRONMENT IN ZIMBABWE.!!!!
Civic Society Organizations (CSOs) in Zimbabwe lead by the firebrand fearless ZCEO President Paddington Japa Japa and ZEAT Executive Director Ignatius Sadziwa have lambasted the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission ZEC for what they term lackadaisical to disinterested approach when it comes to issues of Voter education and registration excercise around the Country.In a joint communique the CSOs namely (ZEAT) Zimbabwe Election Advocacy Trust and (ZCEO) Zimbabwe Centre For Equal Oppotunities have challenged ZEC to up their game in terms of Voter education and registration throughout the country, s ten Provinces as provided for in the 2013 Zimbabwean Constitution, and as read with the Electoral Act.
ZEC are not putting any effort at all in terms of encouraging Zimbabweans to register to vote, a responsibility vested in Zec, through the Constitution of the Country. Mr Ignatius Sadziwa the executive director of ZEAT said, we are not seeing any effort from Zec in terms contacting outreach programs of voter registration excercise to the Citizens of Zimbabwe. The Citizens are also not showing any interest in registering to vote, for the 2023 General election, ZEC recently reported that only around 2000 additional voters have so far registered as voters throughout 2021 year. ZCEO President Paddington Japa Japa says ZEC is not taking a pro-active role of taking the voter registration excercise to the electorate,obviously for political reasons, its a way of making sure that as many Citizens as possible will not register to vote, a tactic that shall work in favour of the incumbent Zanu Pf Government. Zec is very compromised and most of the things the electoral body does do not favour a free and fair election in Zimbabwe, Japa Japa said. The electoral body has been condemned on numerous occasions by the main opposition Political Party in Zimbabwe MDCA,for not playing the game fairly.Main issues previously raised by the opposition MDCA include lack of transparency on where ballot papers are printed, who prints them, retention of names of dead people on the voters roll,poor logistical arrangements when distributing the voters roll to polling stations, shortly before commencement of voting.Delays in tabulating, adding up, verification and announcement of the election results. Refusal by Zec to entertain appeals against suspected vote rigging and irregularities in the process eg the Chegutu Parliamentary election were Dexter Nduna was declared a winner by ZEC instead of the MDCA Candidate who actually beat Nduna by a wider margin. ZEC refused to take the matter to the Electoral Court for arbitration.
Japa Japa has strongly condemned the ruling Zanu Pf Government for not creating a conducive environment which allows for free, fair, impartial elections to be conducted in the Country, be it Parliamentary or local authority ones.It is the responsibility of Government to make sure that every child who is born with or without parents gets a Birth certificate after birth and a National Identity Card on attainment of the legal age of majority of 18 years.In our case millions of Zimbabwean Citizens who are legible to vote have got no id cards,some have got no birth certificates. The Electoral Playing field has never been made even or levelled ever since attainment of independence by Government for the game to be played fairly, the regime has always made it practically impossible for the opposition to participate freely and fairly in all elections previously held in the Country.The Zanu Pf regime uses State Security apparatus to harass, abduct, kill, obstruct, intimidate Opposition Mdca Party Candidates and acitivists, before during and after elections, which are vote rigging mechanisms.Japa Japa strongly condemned the Captured and Compromised Zimbabwean Judicial System which consists of biased Judges and Magistrates who come up with biased Judgements when it comes to adjudicating on electoral disputes.Recently the Nation was shocked to see the Chief Justice of Zimbabwe Luke Malaba participating in proceedings at the Zanu Pf Conference in Bindura, a sign that shows bias and partiality. The Chief Justice was not suppose to set foot at that Zanu Pf Party Conference at all, because it was a Political Party program, hence Judges or Magistrates are not allowed by law to participate in any Political activities in Zimbabwe, as custodians of the tenets of the Justice delivery processes.
ZEAT Executive Director Ignatius Sadziwa said his organization is preparing a strong Petition to the Clerk of Parliament to force MPs to amend the electoral Act, to make it more transparent and user friendly during and after any election in the Country.The Electoral laws must be harmonised with the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe or else there must not be any elections held at all under the current Political situation obtaining in the country.Elections without the full Participation of all citizens wont be Democratic as they will not be reflective of the needs and aspirations of the majority.What ZEC is doing is an afront to Constitutionalism,ZEC must be ashamed of such a Scandal.The sterile and inept conduct by the election Body is against Section 239 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which mandates them to conduct effective Voter registration and education excercise Sadziwa said.
ZCEO President Paddington Japa Japa has called for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to learn to respect the Constitutional rights of all Citizens of Zimbabwe, the Zanu Pf leader must allow the Opposition MDCA,free Political Space, Sufficient Media Coverage by the State controlled Media, uninterrupted campaign space in the same manner the Zanu Pf President, s own Political Party is enjoying.As we speak Zanu Pf has been allowed uninterrupted campaigning space and time as they wish, even during the Covid 19 pick period, but the same has not happened to Chamisa,s Opposition MDCA. Chamisa, s Cars were heavily damaged, blocked from entering most rural Constituencies around the Country, by organized state assisted Zanu Pf thugs, a thing that has been heavily condemned by all progressive Democratic forces around the world.
The electoral playing field and game must be played freely, fairly and transparently, everywhere and at all times around the country, be it in rural or in urban centres.The electoral Act must be aligned with the 2013 Zimbabwean Constitution, the joint communique form ZEAT and ZCEO leaders declared !!!!
