MDC-T outraged over Mudede rigging of voters’ roll

The MDC-T says it is extremely appalled by the fraudulent attempts by the Registrar General of Voters, Tobaiwa Mudede to carry out the voter registration and the inspection of the voters’ roll exercise at district level instead of the ward level as directed by Cabinet.

“The new exercise is clearly provided for in Section 6(3) of the Sixth Schedule of the new Constitution.  This clause is clear that mobile voter registration has to be intensive meaning that it should be at ward level,” the MDC-T said.

In a statement the party said “the shift by Mudede is nothing but another attempt by Zanu PF to further disenfranchise the people of Zimbabwe. The MDC therefore demands that the Registrar General’s office and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) unconditionally move this process to the wards.”

The MDC-T said Mudede’s ‘illegal move’ is nothing but a fraud meant to assist the rigging machinery of a ‘panic stricken’ Zanu PF.

“The distribution of centres reveals that inexplicably some provinces with known high potential yield of voters as well as high population density as evidenced in the last census figures have been allocated with fewer registration centres as compared to those with a relatively lower voter population density.”

This the MDC-T said “will result in overcrowding at the fewer centres allocated leading to the disenfranchisement of the prospective voters. In areas which Mudede unwittingly perceives to be Zanu PF strongholds, he has created more registration centres while in some areas which he perceives to be MDC strongholds; very few centres have been established.”

For instance, some wards in Harare province have been restricted to a single registration centre with wards 27, 28, and 29 having all been clustered to be served at Glen View A Community Centre for only four days.

Harare South, which has a Zanu PF MP, has one ward, has been allocated five centres and the team will be deployed to register voters in the one ward for 15 days.

In the Hatfield Constituency held by the MDC, Mudede has not established a single centre while in Harare South Constituency which is held by Zanu PF, four centres have been established.

Harare South Constituency is the only constituency presently under the control of Zanu PF in Harare and it is largely composed of informal community and resettlement areas.

In total, Bulawayo has only 36 registration centres while Harare has a total of 44.

“In other provinces where Zanu PF will want to use its rigging machinery, Mudede has increased the registration centres by very high margins although the provinces have less demographic population than Harare which has over 2 million than Mashonaland West, which has 1, 4 million but has been allocated 444 registration centres,” the MDC-T argued.

Mashonaland East has a population of 1, 3 million but has 362 registration centres while Mashonaland Central has a population of 1, 1 million and 382 registration centres.

According to the MDC-T the claims by Mudede that his office is facing financial constraints to carry out the exercise are false as only this month; the Treasury released over US$20 million for the exercise.

The MDC-T is also outraged by the Registrar General’s attempts to complicate the registration requirements of “aliens” by unnecessarily referring them to KGVI barracks to get police clearance in order to get an ID.

“This move by Mudede’s office is totally unacceptable as it is aimed at discouraging the aliens as potential voters from registering,” the party said.

“Because of the bungling of the voter registration exercise, the MDC is now in doubt whether ZEC can truly be expected to organise an election that complies with all the provisions of the new Constitution.

“The fraudulent and chaotic mobile voter registration exercise being carried out by Mudede will certainly produce an incomplete and unsatisfactory voters’ roll which will not enable Zimbabwe to have an election that is credible locally and which satisfies SADC and the African Union guidelines governing the conduct of free and fair elections.”

The party urged Zimbabweans to ensure that they take part in the mobile voter registration exercise while the party engages all the relevant stakeholders in ensuring that Mudede complies with the laws of the country.