BR>There is also evidence that massive rigging took place during the exercise
that began on June 18th and was conducted by the Registrar-General’s Office and
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. It is reported some areas identified as opposition
strongholds were not serviced. The authorities are also accused of using food as a
political tool and forcing street vendors to register in constituencies other than their own.
David Chimhini, director of the Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET), said
they received “disturbing” reports from some constituencies. He pointed to
Harare South as an example, saying people there were allocated new housing
stands and were then told they had to register using the new stand’s address.
But these were people who were already registered under their current
addresses elsewhere.
Chimhini said the exercise is reported to have registered 45,000 people
as of last week. That number is the equivalent of one constituency.
Chimhini questioned the extent of the coverage by government, saying the
exercise could not have been successful. He said: “I can safely say the voters
roll will not be representative of Zimbabwe’s voting population.”
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), which was monitoring the
registration exercise, report that they visited the suburb of
Hatcliffe, Harare North, and found that people from outside the constituency were
being registered there because they had been allocated stands at a housing
project that does not exist. Some were teachers who are resident in places as
far away as Gokwe.
ZESN found them in possession of letters from a housing cooperative
named Enerst Kadungure Housing Co-op, which they used as proof of residence.
It turned each voter given a stand was ordered to provide 5 witnesses who
were also registered at the same stand. This means 6 people were being
registered using the same non-existent stand. – SW Radio Africa
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