Zec must be dissolved
By Kennedy Kaitano
As we fast approach the 2018 elections, opposition parties must think and act fast, because the demon they are dealing with can be very cunning and sophisticated.
Jonathan Moyo has already said they will not reform the electoral process to give away running the affairs of the country. I hope the opposition parties, individually and collectively through NERA have captured that evidence to present to SADC, the African Union and the United Nations as they lobby for electoral reforms.
Fortunately, the United Nations has presence in Zimbabwe and they are also reading these claims and probably getting first hand information from journalists and other people who attended Professor Moyo’s briefing.
Fortunately also, the United Nations, from a statement I read quoting Rita Makarau, are sponsoring the compilation of a bicameral voters roll, so as a stake holder, they should be willing to listen to suggestions that can result in a credible, undisputed election being held.
Already, Zanu PF has been reported as wanting to collude with ZEC in tempering with the voters’ roll by using the same template to create their party register as will be used by ZEC. The idea is that they will be able to register every supporters of theirs, and the database will be uploaded onto the ZEC database that will be used to create the voters roll.
As I have said before in a separate opinion piece, Zanu PF are smart. In the last election they cleverly transferred many people who were not on their own register to places far away from their usual voting places and simply denied the opposition the voters roll before, and even after the elections.
My own brother who had voted before in Mount Pleasant could not find his name on the voters roll on voting day, but was resourced enough to go to a command centre, where he was shown that he was registered in Mazoe. Again, he was well resourced enough to travel all the way to Mazoe to cast his vote.
Rita Makarau may deny collusion with Zanu PF on this matter as she has already done from media reports I have read – thanks to NewsDay, but when confronted by Zanu PF she will give in. The opposition must therefore demand to the United Nations who are sponsoring the bicameral voters roll that ZEC must be dissolved, and all parties appoint new commissioners to ZEC. Each party should be allowed an agreed number of commissioners.
If ZEC cannot be dissolved completely, all those with a military background should be sacked and replaced with commissioners appointed by the opposition parties. Rita Makarau must resign and concentrate on her role as Judicial Services Commissioner, and replaced by a candidate who will be selected through a process managed by all the parties participating in the process or a parliamentary committee.
I don’t have a legal background, but I know the opposition parties themselves have legal experts who can perfect this argument and take the necessary measures to ensure an undisputed election in 2018.
The people of Zimbabwe have suffered for too long, and I am sure they will carefully consider this line of thinking, which could be one of the rallying points in future demonstrations to pressure Mugabe and his undemocratically elected cabinet to do the right thing.
