“We are raising the voice of at least three million disenfranchised Zimbabweans in the diaspora,” said Mandla Akhe Dube, General Secretary of the Save Zimbabwe campaign and Vice Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Global Forum. “They have as much a right to vote as anyone else in Zimbabwe.”
Similar protests will be held in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brussels and Botswana. The USA held a protest vote in February.
Zimbabwe bars all but officials in its embassies from postal voting and yet there are nearly four million people now living outside Zimbabwe. About 7,000 Zimbabweans live in New Zealand.
Results of the New Zealand votes will be announced at press conferences in the three cities at 6pm, before being faxed to the Zimbabwe embassy in Canberra.
Save Zimbabwe Campaign says that the diaspora vote cannot be ignored if Zimbabwe is to conform to Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) norms and standards of free and fair elections. All other SADC countries have postal vote provisions for their citizens living abroad.
Save Zimbabwe is also appealing to the New Zealand media to seek accreditation to cover the elections.
Post published in: News