Chipo Mwoto and Buka Mudede were also accused of grabbing registration slips from those changing constituencies. The two were seen confiscating slips from new voters at the Matanda Mobile Registration Centre.
They were challenged by community monitors from the Chiadzwa Community Development Trust and later reported to ZEC officials. “ZEC referred them to the police at the same centre, but police refused to arrest the culprits. They were only asked to return the slips to the owners,” said CCDT programs coordinator, Melanie Chiponda.
Only a few slips were returned out of the huge numbers confiscated throughout the registration process. When contacted for comment regarding measures put in place by ZEC to deal with such situations, the chief elections officer, Lovemore Sekeramayi, said. “That situation is dealt with according to recommendations made by our legal department. Send me your questions and our legal experts will suggest how best to handle such a case.”
ZEC had not responded to the questions at the time of going to print.
Zanu (PF) distanced itself from the confiscations and disowned the culprits. Party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said it must be members of its rival parties involved in the practice.
“Certainly these people are not Zanu (PF). We are a peaceful party and there is no way Zanu (PF) would use such a strategy to win elections,” Gumbo told The Zimbabwean in a telephone interview.
Nhlanhla Dube, spokesperson for the MDC led by Welshman Ncube, said if the allegations were true ZEC should take immediate corrective action before the elections, and the victims should be provided with authentic duplicate voter registration slips to enable them to vote.
“ZEC should use its legal instruments to ensure a credible free and fair election,” said Nhlanhla. In the past Zanu (PF) has been accused of confiscating registration documents of voters ahead of elections to disenfranchise them.
Post published in: News