“Aliens” turned away

This disappointed the potential voters who said they were not informed of their status before the referendum.

A Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Returning Officer at Nyameni Primary School told The Zimbabwean that they were told at the Referendum Observers training workshop ahead of the plebiscite that people with identification documents suggesting they are aliens would not participate in the exercise.

“People with identification particulars indicating they are aliens will not cast the ballot. Even those who acquired citizenship by registration will not be part of the referendum if their identification cards still indicate they are aliens,” said the RO.

Masi Musitafa (82) of Nyameni was disappointed after he was turned away from his nearest polling centre for being an alien. He migrated to Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia, from Malawi in August 1955.

“I feel let down by the voting system as I was made to believe that the only requirement for one to vote at the referendum was a Zimbabwean identification document. No one bothered to advise us in time that since we turned Zimbabweans by registration we were supposed to acquire new national identity documents indicating that we were now citizens,” said Musitafa.

The Returning Officer at Nyameni Primary said by 8.30 am they had turned away four aliens. There was no much enthusiasm by the electorate to cast the ballot early in the morning, with voters coming in small trickles.

However there were some stations where voters turnout was big, such as at the District Administrator’s offices centre. The huge turnout was attributed partly to vendors from flea markets, shops and people on transit passing through.

At Samuriwo Primary School in rural Mahusekwa, villagers trickled to the polling station in batches averaging three people at any one time.

Queues are growing longer as the voting progresses and participates are from all age groups ranging from the youth, middle aged pollers and the elderly.

No violence has been reported in and around Marondera so far, and police presence at polling stations is highly visible. In Harare’s Mabvuku-Tafara as well the northern suburbs, there were also reports of people of alien origins being turned away.

Voters in these areas questioned the discretion used by polling officers where some ‘aliens’ are being allowed to vote while others are being turned away.

Very few voters in the northern suburbs of Harare had been turned away by midday today, but the majority of those turned away were ‘aliens’.

At a polling station situated at Hiller Road and Churchill Avenue, one elderly woman was turned away after indicating that she was an alien.

However the disgruntled 56-year-old Sheila Foya said she was not satisfied with the answer she got from the polling agent at the centre.

“He told me that if I produced my application for citizenship or a notice from the home affairs ministry indicating that I was waiting for my citizenship, I could vote. It is disheartening to note that we have been sidelined again because the responsible authorities were not clear on this issue,” she said.

Foya questioned why this issue was not publicised before referendum day.