Scores of people have been turned away at Nketa and Bulawayo Drill Hall RG’s offices. Despite cabinet’s scrapping of proof of residence requirements, RG officials at Drill hall are still insisting on prove of residence and completely disregarding the affidavits agreed upon by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and other stakeholders.
“A month ago, I went to Drill Hall to register as a voter but I was told to bring proof of residence. On Friday I went back with a marriage certificate and vaccination certificates for my dogs which had my physical address.”
“The marriage certificate was ironically issued by the RG’s office. After producing all these documents, the officer at counter 17 refused to register me claiming that he was taking instruction from his superiors,” said Muthulusi Moyo, who is a strong activist for the revival of Bulawayo’s industries.
Moyo said after incessant demands to be registered, he was taken to a private office via a back door where he was made to sign an affidavit form and finally managed to register as a voter.
“It seems if I had not made a scene at the RG’s offices, I was never going to exercise my democratic right to vote. Although I managed to register, it pains me because a lot of people are being denied their right to vote simply because the officers are flouting the requirements to suite their agendas. The whole set up at the RG’s offices is designed to frustrate and discourage people from voting,” he added.
At Nketa RG’s office, The Zimbabwean news crew witnessed scores of youths who wanted to register and obtain public documents being turned away on flimsy excuses.
“I have been coming here at 5am everyday hoping to get a birth certificate for my new born child. Every day we are told to come tomorrow but it’s now a week and the birth record is expiring. I tried to go to RG town offices but I was told to go back to where I reside to get the birth certificate. I really do not know what to do now, “said a Tshabalala resident who declined to be named.
Treasury last week released $11,6 million towards a fresh voter registration exercise. Thousands of prospective voters failed to register in the just ended mobile voter registration programme due to among other reasons stringent voter registration requirements .In some areas perceived to be MDC strong holds, RG and ZEC officials conducting the exercise were accused of deliberately delaying the process and frustrating voters.
Both the MDC formations have openly complained about the composition of ZEC secretariat, which they accused of being manned by soldiers and members from the Central Intelligence Organization.
Post published in: News