We will be going live shortly at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission

By Own Correspondent| Aspiring independent legislator for Norton Temba Mliswa’s campaign manager was yesterday arrested at TM Pick n Pay at Govani Shopping centre, Norton.

Impeccable sources told ZimEye that Tonderai Chigodora affectionately known as TC, spent the night in police cells following the incident which occurred yesterday (Sunday) mid morning.

The sources made claims that Chigodora was caught by alert shop attendants while trying to exit the shop with a loot of soap and lotion.

“It was an embarrassing moment not only for Chigodora but for the candidate that he is campaigning for,” said one of the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Management at the shop refused to comment on the matter arguing that the matter was now in the hands of the police.

“He will be going to court today (Monday) so anything that you want you can attend the court session,” said one senior manager.

Contacted for comment, aspiring legislator for Norton Temba Mliswa confirmed the development adding that he would stand by his manager and would wait for the law to take its course.

“What you must remember is that this is politics. My campaign manager is one of the most vibrant political commissers and he has done a great job mobilising supporters for me.

But this is not new. I have been arrested over 70 times. We just wait for the law to take its course. But I know he (Tonderai Chigodora) has been a target by many for the good work he has done for me. I will stand by him as I await the law to take its course,” said Mliswa.

This is a developing story. Details to follow.

Refresh this page for updates.

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation has embarassed its own boss George Charamba who has claimed that MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa is too broke to pay for adverts.

The broadcaster says advertising is actually free of charge.

ZBC says it has allocated airtime to all participating political parties as stipulated by the law and warned it will forfeit airtime not utilised by political parties.

In a statement, ZBC chief executive officer Mr Patrick Mavhura said the national broadcaster had taken neccessary steps as prescribed by the Constitution.

“Following the proclamation of the harmonised elections on 30 May 2018 by President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa which set elections for 30 July 2018, and the subsequent sitting of the nomination court on 14 June 2018, putting into motion the election period, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, ZBC has taken the necessary steps in accordance with the Constitution, the Electoral Act and the ZEC Media Coverage Regulations.”

Mr Mavhura added: “These steps are: Firstly, the national broadcaster is recording and broadcasting the three mandatory elections programmes namely; The Candidate, The Manifesto and The Discussion on both radio and television;

“Secondly, the ZBC News and Current Affairs Department has increased the daily coverage of various political parties activities which are broadcast on radio and television news bulletins.

“Thirdly, the Marketing Department has made a call out for political parties to submit their political advertisements.”

Mr Mavhura said the ZBC had since allocated airtime to all participating political parties.
“Accordingly, ZBC has since allocated airtime to all participating political parties as stipulated by the law.
“However, I would like to inform political parties who have not heeded the call to bring in their political advertisements that airtime which is not utilised will be forfeited.
“This means that there is no banking of airtime as it does not accrue but is forfeited. Political parties will be given the remaining airtime by the time they request for it.”

He said political parties must declare their position on political advertisements.
“It is critical for political parties to declare their position on political advertisements so that the national broadcaster is made aware if they will take up their airtime, and when they will take it up.
“Failure to comply with this will result in the airtime being forfeited,” said Mr Mavhura.

Yesterday Permanent Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Mr George Charamba said Zanu-PF was paying for political adverts aired by ZBC but the MDC Alliance is failing to pay for the available political advertising space. – state medi/additional reporting.

Terrence Mawawa

Villagers in Zimuto Communal Area have sensationally claimed that local kraal heads are receiving bribes from Zanu PF to propel its political events.

The villagers have since compiled a report- they hope will be presented to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

The villagers alleged local kraal heads received figures between $ 10 and $ 15 to drive the ruling party campaign.

“Last week kraal heads received money from Zanu PF officials and the traditional leaders pledged to spearhead the ruling party campaign in the area.

Some of the kraal heads are already moving around the local villages intimidating voters,” sources in Zimuto told ZimEye.com yesterday.

However a Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Provincial Official said relevant investigations would be carried out to establish the facts on the ground.

Terrence Mawawa

Supporters of Zanu PF MP for Masvingo Central Constituency, Edmund Mhere last week blocked villagers from attending a People’ s Rainbow Coalition Meeting.

Vehicles ferrying drunk Zanu PF members moved around the constituency and individuals with megaphones instructed local villagers to boycott Majuru’ s meeting.

According to a report presented to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission last week, the Zanu PF youths disrupted the meeting as they distributed freebies to villagers a stone’s throw from the venue in a calculated move to create a counter attraction.

“Zanu PF youths last week disrupted a PRC meeting scheduled for Muchakata Business Centre in Masvingo Central Constituency.

The actions of the unruly ruling party supporters directly contradict the rules and regulations informing the 2018 elections.

We hope the matter will be addressed as soon as possible,” read part of the report presented to ZEC.

Terrence Mawawa

The ruling party Zanu PF will not sweep all the 26 constituencies in Masvingo Province because of the ‘bhora musango’ effect, analysts have said.

Both Zanu and MDC are likely to lose key Parliamentary seats in the province as irate elements from both parties vow to spoil the party for imposed candidates.

In Masvingo Urban Constituency there are three frontrunners in the race to win the hot seat.

Independent Parliamentary Candidate Sam Chapfudza, MDC Alliance’ s Jacob Nyokanhete and Benjamin Taguma Mazarire are the leading contenders in Masvingo Urban Constituency.

Speaking in an interview with ZimEye.com yesterday, Chapfudza said he was optimistic about victory despite squaring off with candidates from the two main political parties in the country.

“I believe that the Lord will grant me the grace to win this election.I have faith in God and I have always said it is not by might nor by power- but by the spirit of God,” said Chapfudza.

“Masvingo is lagging behind in terms of development, the Masvingo- Harare Road Construction is stagnant because of lack of representation.

It is now time for us to stand up and be counted,” said Chapfudza.

Terrence Mawawa

Chiredzi West Legislator Darlington Chiwa has alleged that serving members of the Zimbabwe National Army want to eliminate him before the July 30 elections.

Chiwa, a declared G-40 element is seeking to retain his seat as an independent candidate after being pushed out of the ruling party.

Presenting a report on the situation on the ground to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission(ZEC ) yesterday, Chiwa claimed soldiers were deployed in Chiredzi to intimidate residents before the elections.

“In Chiredzi West Constituency, serving members of the army are participating in ruling party campaign programmes.

Last week they openly denounced my name and they promised to deal with me in an unspecified way,” said Chiwa.

Despite the threats, Chiwa has maintained he will win the elections.

“I hope ZEC will resolve the matter as soon as possible. All the same their threats will not deter our programmes,” said Chiwa.

By Paul Nyathi|In a shock revelation, the opposition National Patriotic Front has revealed that it will provide the Deputy President in a Nelson Chamisa led government after the July 30 elections if the Chamisa led MDC Alliance wins the elections.

In an interview with Voice of America’s Studio Seven on Friday, NPF women’s league chairperson Mrs Sarah Mahoka indicated that the former President Robert Mugabe backed political formation has decided to support Mr Chamisa in return for the Vice President’s post.

“Bato redu arikuritungamirira izvozvi iyezvino hatina president kuNPF. President wedu isusu ndi (Nelson) Chamisa. Chamisa ndiye achapinda pahupresident, isusu tinotora hudeputy,” said Mrs Mahoka.

“Isusu takatobatana neAlliance because tinoda kubvisa junta yakabvisa baba vaMugabe, vachiti baba vaMugabe vakura,” she added.

State owned Sunday Mail newspaper also reports that the party Spokesperson Jealous Mawarire confirmed the development in a seperate interview saying the senior party member was speaking from an “informed position”.

“Cde Sarah Mahoka is a senior member of the party and she was speaking from an informed position. She was very accurate in her statement because it is a fact that our party is supporting Mr Nelson Chamisa to be President. That is definite,” said Mr Mawarire.

“She was also talking about the negotiations that we are having with the MDC Alliance where we have submitted our request that one of our members should be the Vice President.”

He was, however, evasive on who was likely to assume the envisaged Vice President’s post.

“The party will choose the person. We have our own mechanisms as a party to choose the candidate. The Vice President will come from the people who support our party,” he is quoted by the weekly state publication.

Mawarire however dispelled the perception that the probable person was former first lady Grace Mugabe.

“I cannot pre-empt the name of that candidate. As it stands, the former First Lady is not an active member of NPF and she is not in the running. . .” he said.

ZimEye.com has not been able to get a comment from the MDC Alliance though The Sunday Mail quotes Chamisa’ spokesperson Dr Nkululeko Sibanda.

“We embrace anyone who wants to campaign for president Chamisa. The truth of the matter is that all those who are supporting Mr Chamisa are running with the winning horse because they know that he is going to win this election.

“President Nelson Chamisa does not announce appointments through anyone but his office, this information you are referring to is not from his office,” said Dr Sibanda.

Zanu-PF is paying for political adverts being aired by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), while the MDC Alliance is crying wolf over unfair coverage by the national broadcaster because of failure to pay for the available political advertising space, Permanent Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Mr George Charamba has said.

According to Section 160 H of the Electoral Act (Political advertising in broadcasting and print media), all political parties should be accorded advertising space by the national broadcaster, but such ads should be paid for.

The act reads: “(1) …if the broadcaster or publisher is prepared to publish any such advertisement a) it shall offer the same terms and conditions of publication, without discrimination, to all the political parties and candidates contesting the election; and b) the price it charges for publication shall be at the lowest rate it offers to publishers of commercial advertisements; and c) every such publication shall be identified clearly as an advertisement.”

In an interview yesterday, Mr Charamba said the MDC Alliance should not blame the national broadcaster for its lack of funding to pay for the adverts.

“People must not confuse access and procurement issues. At law, all political parties have a right of access to the national broadcaster, but it’s up to the political players to translate that right into reality and that is a function of the means, which are the resources and not of the law.

“If you look at the MDC Alliance party, they have been clearly struggling to campaign properly, which is why they have been trying to fundraise and which is also why they have not been able to purchase decent platforms for their candidate,” he said in reference to the embarrassing incident that saw MDC Alliance president Mr Chamisa falling off the stage in Hwange last month.

Mr Charamba said the MDC Alliance’s financial woes are there for all to see, as the party has even failed to put up posters on trees.

He was responding to claims by former MDC-T Member of Parliament Mr Settlement Chikwinya who claimed that ZBC was charging prohibitive fees.

“Beyond that, what their talkative outgone MP forgot to remind himself is that there are no MDC Alliance adverts in newspapers, which are a lot cheaper. Much worse, there are no MDC posters on trees. Is he suggesting that even trees have hiked their prices?”

Mr Charamba added: “They should never be a sense in anyone’s head that merely because they are contesting elections, that in itself is a license to rundown the frames of ZBC as a broadcaster. We will not allow that.

“The business of politics is expensive and if you are not ready to meet the expenses, get out.”

He suggested that MDC Alliance members could be converting party funds to personal use in anticipation of electoral defeat.

“They are thinking of life after defeat. You cant lose the politics and lose the money also.”

In an interview with The Sunday Mail yesterday, ZBC chief executive Mr Patrick Mavura said the MDC Alliance was among the motley of parties that have failed to take up the national broadcaster’s call for paid-for political adverts.

“We have availed programmes which are for free and other programmes which are paid for through adverts.

“We have been having challenges with the paid for programmes because only Zanu-PF has been able to pay while the other parties are struggling.”

Mr Mavura said ZBC had reduced advertising rate for political parties by 30 percent.

It is believed the opposition party has been pushing for free coverage in order to compensate for their failure pay for ad space.

Last week, MDC Alliance spokesperson Mr Welshman Ncube told our Bulawayo Bureau that his party had not been able to print posters for its presidential candidate, Mr Chamisa.

He also revealed that the party had resorted to selling regalia as it could not give it for free.

Early this year, Mr Chamisa’s party received US$1,873 663.83 under the Political Parties Fund Act, but MDCT- president Dr Thokozani Khupe, who broke ranks with the MDC-Alliance, has been fighting to get a share of the funds, saying her party was the legitimate beneficiary.

It is believed that the decision by non-Governmental organisations to turn off the taps due to alleged abuse of funds and the ineptness of beneficiaries has compounded the opposition political parties’ challenges. – state media

MDC T leader, Dr Thokozani Khupe, is confident of victory at the July 30 polls and said she hopes the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will deliver free, fair and credible elections.

“While we continue to pray for ZEC to fully comply with Section 239 of our country’s Constitution in ensuring a free, fair and credible election, we are readying ourselves for this election because we will not concede a penalty for Zanu-PF to score an easy electoral victory.

“The electoral field has never been free and fair ever since my party broke onto the political scene, and this time around this problem has been amplified by the fact that we are using a biometric voting system for the first time.

“I encourage our supporters to mobilise for a huge turnout even as we continue to implore ZEC to comply with all the technical and administrative requirements they are to abide with as prescribed by our current electoral law, something which is surely within their means,” she said.

MDC-T leader and one of the four female presidential candidates in the forthcoming harmonised elections, Dr Khupe, has promised to end all forms of violence if elected into office.

The 54-year-old Dr Khupe, who was battling Mr Nelson Chamisa for the control of MDC-T, found herself on the receiving end of intra-party violence in the opposition party’s game of thrones.

In the July 30 harmonised elections, her party will be contesting under the banner of the MDC-T, which, for her, is a victory of sorts.
Dr Khupe told The Sunday Mail last week that violence is a weapon of cowards and her government will have zero tolerance to the practice.

Violence, she said, paints a bad picture for the country’s democracy and the electorate must shun politicians with violent tendencies.

“My view is that political violence in whatever form or category is a choice weapon of cowards who have nothing to place on the table for nation building and development.“My government will have zero tolerance for all forms of violence, including political violence. I advise the electorate not to waste their time with politicians who use poor souls as instruments of unleashing violence on their competitors,” said Dr Khupe.

“It certainly does not paint a good picture for our democracy that even a woman who has been in the highest political corridors for three decades like myself cannot escape being subjected to misogyny, violence and humiliation as has been seen in recent times.

“Such violence is the reason why our women representation in political offices remains very far from the minimum thresholds,” she said.

She also promised to cultivate an environment that affords equal opportunities for Zimbabweans.
“My vision is for a Zimbabwe which offers equal opportunities for all its citizens in all the political, economic, social, political, and cultural spheres.

“Equal opportunities in these spheres means that all Zimbabweans must have access to the best jobs with good working conditions and remuneration, the best healthcare, the best education, the best clean water, food, and the best delivery of all social services.”

Devolution of power, she added, could help unshackle the economy and create conditions for economic growth.

“Centralisation of the economy has meant that failure of the central economy through Government interference has always translated to failure of all economic activities in the various provinces of the country.

“Failure of the centralised economy created the highly informalised economy that now exists.
“My first step will be to fully implement devolution of power as a way of building provincial economies, which are fully insulated from the vagaries of what happens in central Government.”
“Strong provincial economies will create equal opportunities for all people in Zimbabwe by localising jobs and retaining a huge share of gains from their local resources for local development,” she said.

The MDC-T leader intends to deal with cash shortages through producing and exporting as a means to earn foreign currency.

Continued Dr Khupe: “My understanding of the cash crisis is that it is a symptom indicative of a failing centralised economy, and this problem will naturally resolve itself once our provincial economies begin to produce and export and the country earns new money into the economy. Any other cash shortage solution that can be proffered will be a stop-gap measure incapable of permanently resolving this crisis.”- state media

No politics during #WineOclock. But I will answer your question. Given what is on offer I think ED is the right man right now. Not Zanu-PF. I am confident he will deal with the remnants of Zanu-PF, NPF, G40 etc. He wants to live legacy and show he is different from Mugabe https://t.co/kMM4cI9f07

— Trevor Ncube (@TrevorNcube) July 7, 2018

In support of Zimbabwean entrepreneur Celia Rukato of Chjaa Scarves I bought myself the Zimbabwe #NationalScarf. Celia saw a gap in the market and must be commended. This scarf does not belong to Zanu-PF. Like the national Flag and Anthem this scarf must unite not divide us pic.twitter.com/1NZ7559P1p

— Trevor Ncube (@TrevorNcube) July 7, 2018

I disagree with my good Cde @TrevorNcube on this one. ED is ZANU & ZANU will never be good for Zimbabwe, not yesterday, today, not tomorrow. I’ve asked about ED’s personal achievement even as housing min, but dololo. Guy has no known record of “positive” accomplishment??‍♂️

— Patrick DZVOTI (@DzvotiPatrick) July 7, 2018

https://twitter.com/zimflowe/status/1015644436477431808?s=19

https://twitter.com/Henry51955583/status/1015639062756151296?s=19

Mmmmm so why didnt he start dealing with the remnant of Zanu pf, NPF and G40 when he assumed power in November? He has had 6 months to do that. I think ED sold people a dummy in November. We wont be fooled twice!!!!

— Gil Kamusasa (@gilkamusasa) July 7, 2018

VIDEO: MNANGAGWA vs CHAMISA Rallies: In ED’s People Are Taught History Lessons, In Chamisa’s We Are Taught Lessons Of The Glorious Future – IS THIS TRUE? https://t.co/wJkTWshdM3

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) July 7, 2018

By Own Correspondent| MDC Alliance aspiring parliamentary candidate for Harare South, Shadreck Mashayamombe has dismissed as false reports alleging that he was reportedly arrested and detained at Waterfalls police station in Harare.

Mashayamombe, said it was news that he had been arrested since he was currently going about his campaign in his constituency.

“It is false. I am currently at a rally and I was never arrested yesterday or today,” said Mashayamombe.

According to social media reports, Mashayamombe was arrested over a stands scam and had been detained at Waterfalls police station in Harare.

A staunch critic of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mashayamombe is the MDC Alliance parliamentary candidate for Harare South and he is set to battle it out with Mnangagwa’s nephew Tongai in the forthcoming harmonised polls set for 30 July 2018.

By Own Correspondent| MDC Alliance aspiring legislator for Harare South, and former Grace Mugabe aide,  Shadreck Mashayamombe was reportedly arrested over Stoneridge settlements.

Unconfirmed reports claimed that Mashayamombe is reportedly at Waterfalls police station in Harare.

Efforts to get a comment from the police regarding Mashayamombe’s arrest were futile.

While details of his arrest were still sketchy, Mashayamombe is on record claiming that last week suspected Zanu-PF stalwarts kidnapped him and demanded that he withdraws his candidature from the constituency before taking his Parliament-issued Chevrolet vehicle and dumping it along the Harare-Bulawayo Highway.

According to Mashayamombe, his kidnappers told him to withdraw his candidature in Harare South where he is set to battle it out with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s nephew Tongai for the legislator post on July 30.

Mashayamombe is also on record revealing that Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is “hounding” him.

Addressing party supporters at a rally in Harare, VP Chiwenga is on record saying government will “go after land barons” adding that their days were numbered.

A former member of Zanu Pf, Mashayamombe was elected into parliament in July 2013 to represent Harare South constituency before he was expelled from the party in November 2017 following a military initiative code named Operation Restore Legacy which saw former President Robert Mugabe’s resignation.

In January of 2018 Mashayamombe was expelled from parliament in terms of Section 129 (1) (k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe after ZANU-PF informed the National Assembly that he was no longer a member of the party.

This is a developing story. Details to follow.

Refresh the page for updates.

MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa today, Saturday invades Emmerson Mnangagwa home area, Zvishavane.

Zvishavane is the nation’s precious location for asbestos mining, and also where Mnangagwa built for himself a giant mansion among a swarm of poor village houses.

ZimEye will bring our value readers the LIVE coverage from here today. Watch the preparations below:

By Paul Nyathi|Members of a Matabeleland focus social media WhatsApp group called Social Democracy Forum have made contributions totalling over US$1 000 towards funeral expenses of the late Bulawayo socialite and activist Hloniphani Golide Tshuma who died on Tuesday.

Amongst those who contributed towards the funeral expenses through the group are prominent political leaders Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga, PDP Deputy President Kucaca Phulu and parliamentarian Jassimine Toffa.

Various prominent persons including Phulu and ZEC Commissioner Dr Qhubani Moyo, Highlanders Football Club CEO Nhlanhla Dube, Mthwakazi Republic Party President Mqondisi Moyo, Zimbabwe Communist Party leader Ngqabutho Mabhena and several high profile persons from the region sent touching condolence messages on Tshuma’s sudden death due to suspected hyper tension.

“Hloniphani was a simple man, with a rare quality of engagement and activism. Although Tshuma was not an MRP card carrying member he was always present in almost all our programs. His input and honest criticism has been fruitful for us,” said MRP leader Moyo in a condolence message.

“His dedication to the best interests of Bulawayo and Matebeleland is beyond question. We have seen in almost every activity that has the best interests of our people. He is our immeasurable giant,” said MDC Youth Secretary General Descent Bajila.

Tshuma who founded the group four years ago and brought together the who is who of Matabeleland personnel from across the board will be buried in Bulawayo on Sunday.

MDC Alliance President, Nelson Chamisa said Zimbabwe needs a new leadership that values the people instead of an old Zanu Pf leadership that violated people’s economic, social and political rights for over 3 decades.

Chamisa said the electorate should not be hoodwinked into giving President Emmerson Mnangagwa another 5 year mandate to govern the country since the party had failed to address the simple bread and butter issues for the past 38 years.

Addressing hundreds of party supporters at Mataga business centre in Mberengwa, Chamisa said Zanu Pf leader President Emmerson Mnangagwa cannot fool Zimbabweans because he is just like his predecessor former president Robert Mugabe.

“Mugabe and Mnangagwa belong in the same whatsapp group. Umwe ndi driver umwe ndihwindi meaning one is the driver and the other one is the conductor,” said Chamisa.

He said it is highly unlikely that Mnangagwa is sincere that he has reformed from his old ways of doing things considering that he was part of Mugabe’s administration which plunged the country into the current economic quagmire.

“Zimbabwe inoda mutungamiriri kwete mutongi meaning Zimbabwe needs a leader and not a dictator.

Hatingapfekedze chembere jojeti tobva tatoti yava mhandara meaning we can not dress up an old woman in the latest fashion and start claiming that they are now young,” said Chamisa.

He called on the electorate to change the country’s fortunes by voting for real change under the able leadership of the MDC Alliance.

It’s three weeks to the elections and Zimbabweans have been raising several questions on the country’s preparedness for the watershed election.

The State owned Herald newspaper Political Editor, Tichaona Zindoga (TZ), sat down with ZEC chairwoman Justice Priscilla Chigumba (PC) to discuss these issues.

The full interview is as follows:

TZ: Can you walk us through the mandate of ZEC and where it derives its power and legality.

PC: ZEC is one of those commissions which were set up in terms of Chapter 12 of the new Constitution which came into place in 2013. ZEC derives it constitutional mandate and the basis of its powers from the Constitution itself which actually stipulates firstly that it shall be an independent commission and gives it the exclusive mandate to deal with the registration, voters and all electoral processes. So basically its mandate is derived from the Constitution and from the Electoral Act and attendant regulations.

TZ: What is the composition of ZEC and its secretariat?

PC: ZEC in terms of its organogram is made up of nine commissioners. There is a chairperson, who is myself, who takes the oath of office in terms of the Constitution. We have a deputy chairperson and other commissioners who among all nine commissioners each superintends one province. I am responsible for Harare Metropolitan Province. As you can see, it’s quite a large province. The secretariat is headed by the chief elections officer and we have other officers, directors in various departments such as voter education, knowledge management, ICT etc.

TZ: How do you respond to allegations that ZEC is militarised, allegations which are of a serious nature and have swirled for some time now?

PC: We take those allegations seriously. We do have former members of the army, Prison Service, ZRP, Central Intelligence, President’s Office officers. When I came in as chairperson I took time to sit and look at those allegations and found out that approximately 13.8 percent of secretariat staff has a security sector background.

I checked all the records and I satisfied myself that of all of them none is currently serving. I would like to emphasise the fact that ZEC actually advertised certain posts and we had of that 13.8 percent of our secretariat, these are the employees of ours that responded to advertisement. They actually went through the interviews and were selected. So when you hear members of the public saying that ZEC is militarised, it gives the false impression that we walked into an army barrack or ZRP and arbitrarily chose certain people to come and work for us. But the truth of the matter is that most of these people, of the 13, 8 percent, actually joined ZEC more than five years ago.

As you know, there has been a freeze on Government posts so we have not been able to recruit anyone. So we have had these employees for quite a while, they are our employees, they were employed in terms of the standard procedures and we have taken the position that there is no law in Zimbabwe which prevents us from employing someone merely because they have retired from the army or police.

Our position is that we intend to keep our employees until such time as there is a law which instructs us or guides us to say as an electoral commission we may not employ such people. But we are an independent commission and we independently recruited these people and they are here to stay.

TZ: Can you elaborate on the concept of independence. How is ZEC as an independent body supposed to work with Government and what is the nature of interaction between the two? Do you take instructions from anybody, let’s say from the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs?

PC: The Constitution guides us on the concept of independence and in a nutshell, the Constitution stipulates that ZEC “shall not” be under the direction or control of anyone. So that means in the discharge of our duties, we have absolute discretion in deciding what to do and how to carry out our mandate and our functions. In terms of our interaction with Government, we report to Cabinet through the Ministry of Justice, and when I say we report I don’t mean we seek permission from them to discharge our mandate.

What we basically do is that on a weekly basis we have a meeting with the Minister of Justice and we advise him of how far we have gone on our preparations for instance if we have had the minister briefed this week. It’s not only ZEC, but also other commissions, the Judicial Service Commission, the Prisons Service, the Attorney-General’s Office, we all meet the minister and we tell the minister that week’s activities.

For example, this week we would have told the minister that we have training for electoral officers in our province and what he simply does with the information is relate it to Cabinet. It’s a constitutional and legal way of actually keepingCcabinet informed about our activities and it benefits us in a way because for instance if we require money from the Treasury and if there is no money we go through the Minister of Justice, ask him to tell Cabinet to avail funds to Treasury. So it’s a reporting structure to keep Government apprised of all of our activities. We don’t seek permission from the Government through the Minister of Justice, he does not come to give us directions to say we should do XYZ, but sometimes he puts questions to us to say for instance, the question around the voters’ roll was raised in Cabinet and they would want to know what is happening with this and we respond to say this is how far we have gone.

TZ: Another important concept or tenet relates to transparency. To what extent is ZEC transparent given complaints for example, now that ZEC has not allowed political parties to participate in certain processes they need to scrutinise?

PC: It is my considered view that ZEC is more than 100 percent transparent and I will say so because of a few basic things. First thing is that we have what we call stakeholders engagements. We invite political parties to sit down with us and discuss. We invite civil society organisations and diplomats. Periodically, we do it at two months intervals. As we draw close to the elections, we will do these stakeholders engagement meetings once a month. We were doing them every two weeks and now we have a weekly chairperson’s briefing with the media where we sit with members of the media and advise them on what we are doing.

With regards to the question of ballot paper printing, what I will say is firstly, ZEC is an independent commission, that means it cannot be directed by anyone to do anything, it means it cannot be controlled by anyone to do anything. How we interpret that as a commission is to say in everything that we do, we must always be guided by the law.

So we start of from saying, what does the law say in regard to the ballot paper printing for instance?

The law explicitly says ZEC has the exclusive and sole mandate to design, print and distribute ballot paper.

So that is the legal position, the law is very clear; there are no grey areas. We have encouraged political parties during the time when the Electoral Amendment Bill was debated in Parliament to say look there is no legislative framework for these requests that you are making to us to be made part of these processes, so kindly go to Parliament and try to get these requests made part of the law. They did go to Parliament, if they want to be honest, they did try to get their requests made part of the law, it was debated in Parliament and the Parliament process, the legislative process itself didn’t work in their favour. And our position was, we must be guided by the law because we cannot be seen to be inventing arbitrary things which are not part of our law.

The basic problem that we are having with certain requests is that, where there is no legislative framework in place, it creates difficulties for us but in the interest of transparency we have said to political parties that, I will give an example. We have 55 political parties who successfully fielded candidates through the nomination courts.

So we have said look, we accept and admit there is no legislative framework, you tried to get the law passed in Parliament you failed, but in the interest of transparency why don’t you sit down as 55 political parties that are going to the election and try and reach consensus.

So we know that there is one particular political party which has concerns, why don’t you table your concerns amongst your peers as 55 political parties? We do have what are called multi-party liaison committees, whose constitutional mandate is to build consensus around disputes pertaining to elections. Those multi-party liaison committees are chaired by Commissioner Doctor Moyo.

So Commissioner Dr Moyo convened a meeting where he was supposed to discuss the modalities with the political parties to say, “What exactly is it that you like to see in the process of viewing the printing of the ballot paper or being included in the process?”

Before he could discuss the modalities, that meeting was disrupted and commissioners actually had to vacate the room because of what was happening there.

So this is now the bone of contention to say that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was not transparent because it allegedly didn’t consult political parties; but in our defence I would like to say we did set up meetings; but that meeting was disrupted and as a result we then had to proceed with printing because the idea was parties would sit down, discuss modalities and then they could be there when printing started.

The reason why they were not actually there is because that meeting was disrupted but we had a printing schedule which we had to stick to in order to be ready for the election day on the 30th, so we really couldn’t wait for political parties to organise themselves, we started printing.

However, three days into printing, Dr Moyo then sent out invitations to political parties to say ‘Please come’. The parties that are complaining did not avail themselves at the meetings. No modalities were discussed, so the commissioner used his discretion and that is now water under the bridge because we are actually half way through printing.

TZ: There is this issue around pictures on the voters’ roll, which has been subject of controversy. Can you explain how the concept of pictures on the voters’ roll works and what is the legal position regarding that?

PC: Alright, the first thing that I would really like to communicate is that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission should be congratulated for availing a final voters’ roll to Zimbabweans for the first time; a good six weeks before election day. It has never been done before in the history of this country that the electoral management body actually availed a final voters’ roll that Zimbabweans could actually hold in their hands and say ‘This is our final voters’ roll’. So I think that we should be given some merit for doing that.

Now, the second thing that I would like to say is that it is actually not factually correct that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission failed to avail copies of the voters list prior to our availing the final voters’ roll. I will tell you why. The law in 2013, the New Constitution, was the one which actually gave the mandate to us as opposed to the Registrar General to say the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission should start a new voters’ list. That is why we started registering voters afresh using the biometric voter registration system. It’s also a myth that there are ghosts on that voters’ list, because all the people on that voters’ list actually walked up to a BVR machine; they had fingerprints taken, they had photographs taken. That is the second thing.

The third thing of note is that despite the fact that the Constitution gave us the mandate to make a new voters’ list, there is no attendant legislative framework to control access to the data; which we got.

So what we basically have at the moment is we are juggling competing interests. The Constitution guarantees the right to access to information, but that right to access to information is not absolute. The Constitution also guarantees the right to privacy, the right to privacy is also not absolute. When we registered (new) all our voters’ afresh and took their biometric features, we didn’t contemplate a situation where the release of that data in a voters’ list would potentially impinge on the right to privacy.

So initially, as a commission, we had found nothing wrong with releasing the voters’ roll as it was. We were then alerted by legal advice to say you need to be a little bit careful with the data that you release, especially if that data has the potential of being misused or abused; for instance, identity theft; security concerns. We had certain public statements to the effect that people intended to use those pictures to go and knock on people’s doors and ask people to verify whether their faces were actually on the voters’ roll. We found that unacceptable.

Now, the reason why we found that unacceptable is: the Constitution says we must provide a voters’ roll which is in analysable format and which is searchable. Now what that basically means is that in order to analyse a voters’ roll, it must be in a certain format. So, we put it in Excel format, we then put in names, addresses and ID numbers and it is our considered view that the inclusion of people’s pictures is not going to make the voters’ role any more analysable than it already is and moreover, we did open up the voters’ role for inspection for an eleven-day period if you recall and what we did during that eleven-day period is we actually printed hard copies of the voters’ roll and we said to voters ‘Look, all of our designated polling stations we have turned them into inspection centers. We would like Zimbabweans to physically go to inspection centres and take a look at the voters’ rolls’.

If you had gone to your polling station, which was an inspection centre, you could have seen a hard copy of the voters’ roll. You could have actually seen your picture on that voters’ roll because the hard copy which we availed during inspection is similar to the one which will be availed on polling day and that one will have pictures.

So, the criticism that people went to nomination court without benefit of having seen the voters’ role, in our view, is unwarranted because hard copies of those voters’ rolls, polling station-based voters’ rolls, were actually available. So those who wanted to see which of their neighbours they could actually ask to endorse their nomination, could have done that during the inspection period because those hard copies were available.

It is actually not true, I would like to emphasize, that we did not or we failed to avail even provisional copies. So, during the inspection period, the voters’ roll was availed in three forms. It was in hard copy at the inspection centres, which are our polling centres. It was there in soft copy, we had it on a link. It was there at all our provincial centres; at all our district centres and for your information, it’s actually, as we speak, available at all district and provincial centres. You can actually walk in and have a look at the voters’ roll.

So, the underlying thing behind our refusal to provide a voters’ roll with pictures is that we have provided it in searchable and analyzable form despite the lack of pictures and we have withheld the pictures out of legal concerns for the privacy of others. There are no rights in the Constitution which are absolute. Every right is subject to limits in a democratic society, and we believe that we have discharged our mandate to produce and provide a final voters’ roll, which is analyzable and searchable and we have fulfilled our Constitutional mandate at every stage of the electoral process we have availed copies of even the provisional voters’ roll.

TZ: Other concerns, and we have seen this, include people with multiple IDs or an improbable number of people staying at a particular address. How do you respond to such allegations?

PC: I will take that in two parts, let`s deal with the question of a large number of people apparently residing at one place on the voter`s roll. If you recall, when a potential registrant walked up to a BVR kit, there was certain information they were supposed to provide such as proof of residence. A lot of our residents, let`s take one particular case where there were 122 people registered at one place, they all brought sworn affidavits that they resided at that place. Now, we trained our kit operators to check that sworn affidavits were genuine and authentic. As long as there was a sworn statement from a person stipulating that they resided at a certain place, our kit operators would accept those affidavits. In terms of our administrative processes, there is absolutely nothing that we did wrong as a commission in accepting those sworn statements. It might be debatable whether or not those people ought to have been prosecuted for swearing to affidavits but with regards to that particular instance. By the way, (regarding recent reports of 400 people staying at a particular address) it is actually 122 people, it`s a church shrine we understand there are some residences there at the church shrine. It is not 400 or 300, it is 122 and they all brought sworn statements which was in line with our stipulated procedures so we did nothing wrong.

The second part of your question was with regards to identity particulars which appeared to not to be in order. We have been told there is a person who is 150 years old, we have been told that there are people with similar IDs. You will find that those people with ID particulars that were rejected by the system are actually on the exclusion role, not the voters roll. It is something which is beyond our control as a commission, because we actually don`t have a mandate to register citizens, we don’t issue ID. What we basically did with the data that we received is, wherever we flagged similar IDs, similar names or people who appeared to be shall I say to have an abnormal length of life, we referred all those cases to the Registrar General because he has the mandate to keep the register of citizens and he basically then said to us, this person is not in our system.

I do not want to speak for the Registrar General because I don’t have the mandate but basically I understand that there are some people who did some unorthodox things in order to register themselves as citizens of Zimbabwe. That is the mandate of the Registrar General, he is seized with these matters. What we did is that when those people were flagged by our system, we excluded them from the final voters` roll, they may have appeared on provisional voters` rolls but we excluded them from the final voters roll and referred them to the Registrar General for correction and investigation and possible further action which is within the purview of the Registrar General. Yes, we admit people walked up to our machines; they were registered but when they were flagged they were excluded. If you recall, one of the basic requirements of being registered to vote is that one must be a Zimbabwean citizen and we use our national IDs to show that we are citizens. The minute you have a problem or an anomaly with your ID, you are no longer eligible to be registered to vote. We do accept and we have encouraged people to say, if they correct those anomalies they can still reregister and appear on the 2023 election, so it is not necessarily fatal.

TZ: In the process of printing ballot papers, how safe are these ballot papers and their specimens from leaking to the public?

PG: The places that we have chosen for printing of ballot papers as you know, Printflow is printing our ballot paper for council elections and Fidelity is printing our papers for the presidential election and the National Assembly. We have absolute confidence in the security with both those buildings with regards to ballot papers that are in the process of printing.

The question of leaking to social media, nothing is ever a 100 percent foolproof but what I will tell you with regards to the process is that we are basically an administrative body. In terms of administration, the design of the ballot paper originates in a department here at ZEC. So, we have a ballot paper design department which is manned by experts who sit down and say this is how we are going to design the ballot paper, these are the colours that we are going to use, are we going to use A4 size paper or are we going to use A3. So, for instance, I will tell you that for the presidential election, ordinarily we procure what are known as ballot paper rolls but for the presidential election we now had to procure ballot paper sheets because of the high number of candidates. Human beings being what they are, there is a department here, all of our offices here I have a 100 percent confidence in their ability to keep our material confidential.

TZ: What happens if they do leak?

PC: If they do leak, we must find the source of the leak and prosecute the person.

TZ: Does it not compromise the process or otherwise a rethink of the process?

PC: No, I don’t believe that it compromises the process because the constitution gives us the exclusive mandate to design, print and distribute. So, we still have the exclusive mandate we are still in control and we will still print and go ahead and proceed. People can speculate on social media, we understand all sorts of things on social media, that the ballot paper if you put an X on one end it can migrate to the other end after 12 hours, a lot of the things being said on social media are mere speculation.

TZ: MDC Alliance, one of the contestants in these elections, has just reiterated that it will not participate in the coming elections if certain demands are not met. Can you highlight what demands have been made to you, at least formally, and what your response to the same is?

PC: The first thing I would like to say is that our electoral laws are persuasive, they are not mandatory. For instance, let`s take registration to vote; we don’t have laws that compel Zimbabwean citizens to vote. In certain jurisdictions, if you do not register to vote within six months of turning 18, certain things will happen to you. We do not have laws that compel citizens to participate in the electoral processes. Similarly, if you register to vote and you decide not to vote on election day, we do not have laws that follow you to your house to come and say, you are on the final voters’ roll why didn’t you exercise your right to vote?

The right to vote and the right to participate in electoral processes in Zimbabwe is voluntary. If I decide as the chairperson of ZEC to say I am not going to exercise my right to vote I am allowed to make that decision and the law does not come to look for me to ask why I did not exercise my right. It is actually my right to decide not to exercise my right to vote. I think I have answered your question without commenting directly on what other people may or may not have said. One is at liberty to exercise one`s right by deciding not to participate.

TZ: But we are talking about what is considered a major player in the process. If they decide not to participate will it not render the process a sham and its outcome?

PC: I would like to go back to the Constitutional Court and the judgment which they gave sometime I believe was in February 2018. The Chief Justice has given us guidance. Remember we said as an Electoral Commission we are always guided by law. Two political parties went to the Constitutional Court and asked the Constitutional Court to stop the election on the basis that they would like the law changed with regards to financing of political parties, they were of the view that the law was not fair to them.

They said dear Constitutional Court please stop the election so that we can change this law so that it is fair to all of us. I have said and I was paraphrasing what the Chief Justice said in that judgement, he said, once the President proclaims the election date nothing can stop that election because in proclaiming the election date, he is exercising an exclusive mandate which is derived from the constitution. Once an election date is proclaimed, those timelines which kick in up to this date cannot be stopped by a court of law. If you actually take that judgment – it`s a judgment of the full bench of the Constitutional Court – and you read it, the Chief Justice actually says that it would be incompetent for any court in Zimbabwean to make a court order to stop the election because an election is called in terms of the constitution.

I did paraphrase what the Chief Justice said, I said in other words he said nothing short of an earthquake will stop the election. I was telling stakeholders that we are guided by what the constitutional court said. To answer your question directly, I believe that we have been guided by the highest court in the land that once the election date has been proclaimed nothing can stop that election. It is a question of the law which has been interpreted for our guidance by the Constitutional Court; it is not ZEC playing games with anyone, it is the law.

TZ: Some people think you are being arrogant. What is your response to that?

PC: My response to that is that I am not being arrogant when I am merely interpreting a judgment of the Constitutional Court. I may have paraphrased what the ChiefJjustice may have said but in essence, that was the ratio decidendi of that judgment from the Constitutional Court in dismissing that application by political parties which said please stop the election because we need to do certain things. The Chief Justice said once a proclamation has been made nothing can stop an election, it is there in that judgement. I was merely paraphrasing those words in a bid to advise stakeholders that whatever legal remedies you may have, stopping an election is not one of them.

TZ: What is the role of foreign observers, do foreign observers and envoys influence the way you discharge your mandate?

PC: I will answer the last part of the question first, the answer is absolutely not. As I have already said; not even the Government of Zimbabwe can direct or control ZEC to do anything or not do anything. So, foreign observers or envoys cannot place us under their direction or control. We do have engagements with them, where they try and understand the electoral laws. We try and disseminate information saying in this jurisdiction this is what are law says with regards to such and such. We are not influenced by them although they are one of our vital stakeholders and we do have discussions with them.

TZ: How much are these elections costing us and are resources available to see the process through?

PC: As you know we submitted a budget of $198 million to Treasury. Treasury committed itself to releasing a $140 million to us and the deficit we are grateful to our funding partners UNDP, European Union, UN Women and others. So far, I really would like to acknowledge and thank the Government of Zimbabwe for putting their money where their mouth is because the primary responsibility for funding our election lies with the Government of Zimbabwe and they have fulfilled their primary responsibility. In fact, we are expecting the last tranche of all the money. We have procured ballot papers, ink, operational vehicles, all electoral and election material using money from Treasury. Of course, the deficit was made up by our funding partners.

TZ: Can ZEC and Justice Priscilla Chigumba be trusted to deliver a clean and acceptable process of election in Zimbabwe in the year 2018?

PC: Justice Priscila Chigumba is not above ZEC, Justice Priscila Chigumba is a servant of the ZEC; which means she is a servant of the Zimbabwean electorate. I would like to reassure Zimbabweans, those who are registered to vote and even those who are not registered to vote; we will deliver a free, fair, credible and transparent election. I would like to acknowledge and thank Zimbabweans for being very peaceful. We had a very peaceful pre-election phase, we are now in the election period, we did have isolated incidences mostly of intraparty violence. We had a few clashes around the primary election and mostly our country has been peaceful and I would like to thank Zimbabweans for that. Let`s encourage each other to be peaceful towards each other, we really need to be able to exercise our rights to choose our preferred leader without necessarily fighting with each other if we have different choices.

State Media

Elections will go ahead as scheduled on July 30 and no one has the power to reverse the proclamation scheduling voting on that date, President Mnangagwa said yesterday.

Addressing senior Cottco officials and Government officials who include Vice President Constantino Chiwenga at Cottco ginnery at Gokwe Centre, President Mnangagwa said questions over which presidential candidate was coming first or last on the ballot paper were not an issue.
He said the issue of where a name of a presidential candidate will be placed on the ballot paper would not stop the elections.

“Everywhere we have been to, the people are very clear. This confusion that there are no elections is only in Harare. The rest of the country, they are geared, they understand what they want to do,” he said.

The President said no one was born with a name. “This question of saying my name should be here or there or an alphabetical order must be used is null and void. When they saw my name on top of the ballot they said they should have used alphabetical order and therefore Mnangagwa’s name should not be on top,” he said.

“Elections will go ahead whether you start with the initial C or M on the ballot paper. Elections will go ahead. But you must remember that there is only one person who can decide to stop the elections and it’s me who proclaimed them and no one else made the proclamation. It’s only Zanu-PF which can decide whether elections are held or not”.

President Mnangagwa said the election observers should be allowed to observe the polls from anywhere in the country. He reiterated that elections will be peaceful, transparent and free and fair.
“When election observers visit you, allow them to observe, treat them well. Explain to them how we operate and assure them that we will hold credible, peaceful and free and fair elections,” he said.
The President later addressed a well-attended Zanu- PF rally at Mapfungautsi Primary School in Gokwe South yesterday where he said Zimbabwe was in a developmental mode that will bring prosperity to the people.

“Yesterday I was opening the Empower Bank which is aimed at capacitating young entrepreneurs with loans to start business projects. Last week I officially opened the Zimbabwe Women’s Micro Finance Bank which provides loans to women and small scale businesses. Everyday this current leadership is asked to officiate at ground breaking ceremonies or opening factories, this and that every day as we build our economy,” he said.

President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was an awakening socio-economic giant that needs the input of every Zimbabwean. He said the new dispensation was putting in place a conducive environment for businesses. “As a Government we work to ensure that the companies are supported locally and that investors are also given an opportunity to invest in all sectors of the economy. Now hotels are becoming very few as more and more tourists continue to visit the country which is open for business. Jerusalem which had been destroyed is now under reconstruction. A stone on top of a stone, we are building layer by layer and the home we are building as Zimbabweans will be very strong,” said the President.

He said the country will continue with its re-engagement drive to maintain friendly relations with all countries. “The last 20 years or so we were isolated as a nation and didn’t have any friends but now we are saying we are open to engagement and reengagement. Those countries we had strained our relations with, we are reengaging them and we are starting new relationships with those we previously had no relations”, said the President.

He said Government was committed to opening up closed companies like Ziscosteel in the Midlands Province. “We want to create a better Zimbabwe so that we leave a legacy for our children. Midlands Province almost has all the minerals we have in the country and as such we have a programme to assist small scale miners so that they have equipment to mine,” he said. “On infrastructure development we are going a head with developing roads from Beitbridge, Masvingo, Harare to Chirundu as well as the Beitbridge, Bulawayo to Victoria Falls road. These roads must be dualised. In Gokwe I hear DDF is busy rehabilitating roads so that they can be used by motorists.”
The Government, he said, was looking into sources of energy like solar, thermal and gas to move the economy.

“We need to see power here in Gokwe to push the growth of our economy. We are looking at hydro power, gas and solar programmes and we have investors or companies that are looking into that so that we take power to the people. There should be clean water to the people of Gokwe and passable roads as part of socio-economic development of this area. The school also should be well equipped and I am donating 50 computers,” he said. – State Media

Terrence Mawawa

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has warned Zanu PF rebels against using his name to score political marks.

Mnangagwa has also castigated independent candidates who claim to be Zanu PF members.

At a rally held in Gokwe today Mnangagwa said: “If you an independent candidate then it means you are no longer part of Zanu PF.

I have received reports about individuals who are using my name to gain political ground.

I do not work with rebellious characters, please go and tell those people to stop tarnishing my image.”

“Genuine party members will not stand as independent candidates and those who are doing so are rebels.

In Zanu PF we do not have room for malcontents who are determined to soil our reputation,” added Mnangagwa.

Terrence Mawawa

The ruling party Zanu PF has challenged the ruling by the High Court on barring the ruling party from forcing pupils and teachers to attend its rallies.

The ruling party through its legal team has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe arguing that in the new dispensation pupils and teachers have never been forced to attend political activities.

The ruling party has also slammed the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission for presenting biased information to the High Court.

According to a report compiled by the ruling party’s legal team, the details presented to the High Court were outdated and devoid of facts.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it is clearly and unequivocally stated that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is totally against violence, hate speech and derogatory language.

As such nobody is compelled to attend political rallies. As a matter of fact that those who attend rallies do so voluntarily,” a member of Zanu PF’ s legal team said.

Terrence Mawawa

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s decision to interact with ordinary Zimbabweans on twitter has backfired following a barrage of attacks from angry individuals.

” I had the honour to inaugurate Empowerbank, Zimbabwe’s first Youth Empowerment bank. A truly blessed initiative.

$12m will be made available to support young Zim businessmen and women.

Creating opportunities for our youth is my number1 priority. You are the future of this great nation! ” tweeted Mnangagwa.

Below are responses to his tweet:

“Tsvee zvekutonga nyika and sorting out cash crisis. You open a bank in a country with no cash – where you are failing to run the few banks already there ? Shame manhingi”

“$12m to a youth empowerment bank and $200m for billboards and t-shirts. What a focused president.

This is the longest July I have ever encountered!

First it was Command AgriBank
Then Women’s Bank
Now Youth’s Bank.”

“Action on Cash Crisis = 0
What’s next ? Powerbank ?”

” When do you think will be the right time to retire from politics Mr President?

President, are you not embarrassed that at this rate of opening banks we shall soon have more banks than cash? We have enough banks toda mari!!!”

” Unfortunately Mr President, us the youth see the future of this great nation without you at the helm.

Dai matonosasa ve team yeku colcom vawedzere nyama mu pie kwete zvema cashless banks.”

“War vets bank, rural bank, street kids bank the list is endless.

If you are serious about us being your #1 priority just resign.hamudiwe #coup prez.”