Militarised election body a problem for Zimbabwe
By Lance Guma
Chances of Zimbabwe having a credible, free and fair election remain slim because the secretariat of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) remains “problematic, partisan, and militarized.”
A policy briefing presented by the newly formed Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI) noted that “most of the ZEC commissioners at some point worked for the government security establishment.”
Given the “partisan role of the security establishment in the political and electoral affairs of Zimbabwe” the ZDI believe the presence of these individuals means the capacity of ZEC to deliver a credible poll is very doubtful.
According to the ZDI there is clear relationship between most of the ZEC employees and the army whose top brass regularly promises to subvert electoral outcomes should any other candidate apart from Mugabe wins the election.
The current ZEC Deputy Chair Joyce Kazembe has “eleven years’ experience (and complicity in sham elections)”. She presided over disputed and violent elections in 2002, 2005 and the June 2008 pre-election bloodbath.
Her commission withheld presidential election results for weeks in March 2008, amid reports the period was used to manipulate and massage the figures that denied Morgan Tsvangirai an outright victory over a shocked Mugabe.
The current Chief Elections Officer is Lovemore Chipunza Sekeramayi, a former member of the President’s Office. The notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) falls under the President’s Office and Sekeramayi’s deployment in such a strategic position is very deliberate.
The two directors who work under Sekeramayi, Utoile Silaigwana (Operations) and Notayi Mutemasango (Administration and Finance), are former soldiers fiercely loyal to Mugabe. Silaingwana is responsible for polling, training, election logistics, voter education and public relations for the commission.
It was this same ZEC secretariat that was responsible for the sham election in June 2008, marked by bloodshed, enforced disappearances and outrageous human rights violations, all of which were a violation of the Electoral Act. The same individuals went on to declare the election free and fair.
During the 2002 presidential election the recently promoted Major General Douglas Nyikayaramba was the Chief Executive Officer of the commission. He made sure the body was stuffed with soldiers, state security agents and Zanu PF militia. His recruits are still there and set to ensure Mugabe wins.
ZDI said apart from Geoff Feltoe and Mkululi Nyathi “the other commissioners have a long history of working under the Zanu PF government. How these employees are recruited is unclear and remains shrouded in mystery. There are no public advertisements for the recruitment process,” ZDI said.
There is a close relationship between the President’s Office, the military and the ZEC secretariat in the management of elections in Zimbabwe. This relationship is both overt and covert. This nexus makes the ZEC secretariat unfit to administer credible, free and fair elections.” ZDI said.
Click here for the full Zimbabwe Democracy Institute briefing on ZEC
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