The SEOM called for the establishment of a mechanism through which funds for elections could be availed in time to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission as well as the update of the voter’s roll in time for polls. As part of its recommendations, the SEOM added that there was a need for continuous voter education.
President Robert Mugabe told a Zanu (PF) pre-election Central Committee meeting this month that his June 29 date for elections stands and is in accordance with the law. His comments run contrary to recommendations by SADC.
Mugabe’s declaration came in the wake of a diplomatic offensive by Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai in which he was courting regional leaders to exert pressure on Zanu (PF) to agree to the implementation of key reforms before elections are held. A number of developments have threatened the ability of Zimbabwe’s inclusive government to meet the recommendations by the SEOM.
On Wednesday, ZEC Chairperson, Rita Makarau revealed that lack of adequate funding has negatively impacted voter education exercises. As a result, ZEC was forced to deploy only two voter educators per district. She further highlighted that ZEC has so far received only $500,000,00 from Treasury out of a budget of $8 million.
The issue of the voter’s roll has been quite contentious among Zimbabwe’s coalition partners. The MDC-T has claimed Zanu (PF) is working in cahoots with officers from the Registrar General’s Department to manipulate the voter’s roll.
The MDC-T said some of it’s supporters were being struck off the voter’s roll. The party has raised concern that the voter’s roll is filled with names of deceased people.
On the issue of continuous voter education, civic society organisations are allegedly being barred by the police and District Administrators in rural areas.
Last month, the Director of Heal Zimbabwe Trust, Rashid Mahiya told The Zimbabwean that the practice had impacted negatively on voter education and national healing programmes. The Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Solomon Zwana said Zanu (PF’s) insistence on early elections carried serious repercussions.
“If we are to have a credible election, these issues, including reforms, need to be addressed first,” said Zwana. Issues raised by stakeholders to the SEOM during the constitutional referendum included apathy among the electorate, inadequate time for eligible voters to acquaint themselves with the draft constitution and reports of intimidation and harassment.
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