Jonathan Moyo urges MDC-A to ban former election agents for being CIOs

By Nyashadzashe Ndoro | Nehanda Politics |

Former cabinet minister Jonathan Moyo has urged the opposition MDC Alliance to ban election agents who worked during the last election citing that they are being recruited by the government to be Central Intelligence Officers (CIO)s.

Moyo claimed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently directed Chief Secretary in the President’s Office and Cabinet (OPC) Misheck Sibanda to engage Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson Priscilla Chigumba and chief executive officer Utoile Silaigwana so that they bring all the polling agents and paperwork used during the 2018 harmonised elections.

“@edmnangagwa has sent Dr Misheck Sibanda at #OPC to direct Silaigwana & Chigumba at @ZECzim to avail asap to Zanu PF & CIO:

1. A list of ALL polling & election agents from the 2018 election.
2. An UPDATED demographic voters roll disaggregated by GENDER & AGE!
ZEC is now busy with it!” Moyo said.

“Dear Opposition, Anyone who was a polling or election agent in 2018 should be thanked for their service and excused from similar service in 2023. The approach to polling agents in 2023 must be blue; so for now, as they ask ZEC for a list of 2018 polling agents, let them see blue!”

ZEC dismissed Moyo’s statement as false adding that the voter’s roll was a public document.

“This statement is totally false. The Commission is independent and does not take directives from anyone. For the record the voters’ roll is a public document and any person can be availed a copy upon payment of the prescribed fee,” ZEC said.

A Twitter follower named ParipandaParipanda doubted the idea behind banning experienced polling agents.

“Kkkkkk…Hilarious. Prof is telling the opposition to jettison experienced polling agents, who does that? Experience counts in elections. Bringing in greenhorns to so huge an event is a recipe for disaster. Batai mahwi,” the follower said.

But Moyo responded saying the opposition agents were spies recruited by the government.

“Experienced polling agents? Hell no, they’re experienced CIO/MID spies Cde, most of whom did not even give MDC-A relevant V-Forms from their election centres. Polling agents are election monitors, as opposed to election observers, and election monitoring is not rocket science!” he said.

These revelations come at a time when Zimbabwe is left with less than 23 months to hold its harmonised election scheduled for 2023.

MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa and Mnangagwa are expected to face each other for the second time in the upcoming elections. Chamisa was controversially defeated by the Zanu PF leader in 2018, a victory that was only confirmed by the courts following allegations of rigging. Nehanda Radio