Martha Nyathi (36), who is of Zambian descent but was born in Hwange, made the statement at a Lupane Agenda-organised Election preparedness
Multi-Stakeholder meeting here recently. She told The Zimbabwean that her late siblings names were still on the voters’ roll.
“Although we are born of Zambian parents, I was born here and I consider myself a Zimbabwean. I need to be allowed to register to vote because it is my right to do so. I recently checked the voter’s roll and found that my late brothers’ names are there. I am wondering what the dead people are doing on the voter’s roll when we are not allowed to vote,” said Nyathi.
Other participants highlighted their suspicions that the ghosts on the voter’s roll could be ‘voting’ in every election and pointed out the incompetence of the registry office for not updating the voter’s roll.
“It is amazing how the registry is failing to keep the voter’s roll up to date. The very same office is the one that issues death certificates so they should be able to automatically delete people from the voter’s roll,” said Mabutho Phiri.
Zimbabwe has a poor record of protecting migrant workers’ rights. The country still has not ratified the United Nations International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
The so-called ‘aliens’ did not vote in the previous elections and their chances of voting in the forthcoming one are hanging in the balance.
Post published in: News