By Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo
It looks like ZEC is buying time so that they can throw the whole nation into the river and at the end we become a laughing stock in the world. One painful thing is that the effects will only injure ordinary Zimbabweans who will be battling to provide food on the table.
The Rita Makaraus and others will be busy enjoying themselves in the Far East whilst the whole country will be at stand still. Everyone is closely monitoring the situation but so far we have nothing to say except that we have political commissars masquerading as chairperson of a well-respected institution like ZEC.
To me people like Makarau should not be allowed to be close to such important institutions like ZEC they risk bringing the name of the nation into disrepute. Let truth be told exactly as it is. We have a serious crisis ZEC is not ready to provide a credible election.
In fact we are back to square one. Zanu PF Government must be serious about the legitimacy of this country on international platforms. If you go through the manuscript which Rita Makarau read you can easily tell that it was a statement that was written somewhere and Makarau was only given to read. As a country we are not going anywhere. One thing that people need to understand is that an election is there to provide legitimacy to any form of Government in waiting.
One cannot claim that 2018 will be credible when in actual fact it clearly shows that there are so many loop holes and ZEC is doing this in bad faith. We have a constitution that was voted by people, and Mugabe is the one who signed for this new charter and someone proves her arrogance by referring to the old constitution. Never make a mistake of underrating people the way Makarau has done to Zimbabweans. In fact this is an insult to the nation.
It is the right and obligation of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to make sure that every Zimbabwean is eligible to vote. ZEC must not make inflammatory remarks that will put the country at risk of sliding in serious political crisis. Already it shows someone is behind that press statement and one thing for sure is that Rita’s reputation is seriously damaged.
EVERY ZIMBABWEAN IS ELIGIBLE TO VOTE
The new charter provides space for every Zimbabwean to vote. It is the right for everyone to vote no matter where the person is, so long the person is a Zimbabwean. It is not the responsibility of the Government to tell its citizens whom to vote and who is not supposed to vote.
When election matters are being tabled, the Government should not interfere in such matters because it is interested party. It is a shame to hear that there are some people who are dictating the pace of who is supposed to vote and who is not supposed to vote.
Our rights are well articulated in the new charter and the duty of the current regime is to make sure the rights of the people are well protected. The Government should be busy mobilizing resources for people in the diaspora to vote because it is their duty because they have a mandate.
There are so many organizations that can provide funding for such activities such as UN, EU and IMF on such important matters. Zanu Pf finds excuse on election matters but they are busy flashing money on posh cars ahead of elections yet they give excuses on funding?
My question will then be where are they getting money to buy such expensive cars and yet at the same time they say they don’t have resources for diaspora vote?
The truth is ZEC and Rita Makarau knows very well that if they allow diaspora vote Zanu Pf will lose dismally and this is a public secret known even by a grade one student. So the issue of diaspora vote is very clear in our new constitution and we don’t want to waste time on that one.
IT’S MANDATORY FOR ZEC TO PROVIDE CREDIBLE ELECTIONS
The way I’m seeing things clearly shows that ZEC is now impartial and if truth be told we are going to have disputable elections in 2018.this country risk sliding in serious political and economic turmoil. Already we have a partisan board that is not prepared to give Zimbabweans credible polls.
There are several loop holes already. We are 7 months away from a national election and people are not yet registered. ZEC must not test people’s tempers. People are already fed up and ZEC risk putting the lives of people at risk if the country slide in anarchy.
Registration is supposed to be a daily exercise and putting too many conditions especially in urban areas is a way of making sure that they reduce the number of urban voter’s participation. First they started with the issue of demarcations and they wanted to make sure that there are some urban constituencies that are put together with some rural ones so that Zanu PF will romp to victory.
I’ve no problem with Zanu Pf winning in 2018 but this must be done in a free and fair manner. As we speak we have a reputation to protect ahead of 2018 elections and if ZEC does not guarantee free and fair elections then we are back to square one.
Rita announced that there is an increase in polling stations in rural areas and they reduced the number of polling stations in urban areas to make sure that opposition supporters will not finish voting clearly shows that ZEC is a compromised body and the only thing that ZEC can do is to resign as a body and pave way for a new boy which is impartial.
ZEC PLEASE STICK TO THE CONSTITUTION
It is very important for a strong institution like ZEC to protect its integrity by guaranteeing free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. a person like Rita Makarau knows very well what the constitution says and by being a Lawyer and a constitutional judge at the same time is better placed other than any Zimbabwean and she has a reputation to protect other than pleasing anyone in the corridors of power.
Zimbabwe is owned by Zimbabweans not individuals therefore it is important to put the interest of the nation ahead of individuals. Hopefully Rita will read this article to save our country from international embarrassment.
We need a credible poll and it is the duty of the body to either provide Zimbabweans with credible elections or they resign with immediate effect to pave way for better qualified people who can provide free and fair elections. The international community is closely monitoring the situation ahead of polls, with the already damaged economy it will not take seconds to see our country being put on sanctions further worsening the situation.
Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo writes in his personal capacity as the Head of MINDS which is responsible for policy research and analysis. He is also an academic, researcher and analyst in the area of Development. He can be contacted at [email protected]
