Tinashe Sambiri|The Citizens Coalition for Change has taken ZEC to task over the chaotic voter registration blitz.
CCC has accused ZEC of dragging feet in terms of facilitating the voter registration exercise.
According to CCC, ZEC is delaying the process due to malfunctioning machines.
Below are key points from the CCC media briefing held in Harare on Thursday…
Another challenge we’ve noted is the BVR Machines malfunction.
• There is a continued unprecedented breaking down of machines across the board resulting in a significant loss of man hours, almost registration centers in Harare experienced machines down times. In Ward 35 Gutu Central, for example, on the first day, the machine at Mabhugu Primary school malfunctioned and started working only at 3pm. Subsequently, only seven people were registered and disfranchising over 40 people who were in the queue. These affected people were asked to follow the ZEC registration officers to the next center following day at Mushayavanhu, where unfortunately were stuck there the while day because the machine managed to register 3 people and malfunctioned again. Such incidents were a common phenomenon, and the CCC is in the process of compiling a report of all the affected areas.
The other issue is Power crisis;
The Zesa power cuts are well known and should have been planned for.
• It is common cause that the country is in the midst of a debilitating power outages, there is a continued down time due to erratic power supply to BVR kits, the Commission has no power back up plan.
The small solar are being affected by cloudy weather. Serious stoppages were experienced at Gwinyai Primary School, Kuwadzana 8 Primary school and Mic Jop in Budiriro among several areas. In Mutate prospective registrants were being turned back in Mutasa, Nyanga and Mutate rural due to lack of power because of bad weather
We are not insensitive to these natural constraints but would expect ZEC to compensate for lost time.