Sources have cited Chitungwiza as one example where the practice is rampant. They told The Zimbabwean that senior Zanu (PF) officials, working with individuals from the RG’s office at Makoni Shopping Centre and the Chitungwiza Town Council Head Office, were illegally registering people from outside the area.
MDC-T supporters wishing to register were being frustrated, while Zanu (PF) supporters registered quickly and easily as they are in the company of senior officials known to the RG staff.
“What we have discovered is that Zanu (PF) is bringing in people from rural areas and providing them with fake proof of residence documents, which they use to register. They are in the company of senior officials from their party who just tell the officers that they are indeed from Chitungwiza and no further questions are asked,” said one source.
A senior Zanu (PF) official from Chitungwiza is alleged to have originated more than 20 affidavits for registrants whom he claimed were his tenants. The applicants approached the local RG’s office at different times. We have no independent confirmation of this. MDC-T Chitungwiza Provincial Secretary for Research and Policy Coordination, Lloyd Damba, confirmed the development. “They (Zanu (PF)) are calculating the margin with which they lost in past elections and making attempts to close that gap by bringing in people from rural areas to vote in the various constituencies in Chitungwiza,” he said.
“At the registration centers, Zanu (PF) is being allowed to register as many people as possible so that, come election time, they will be ahead in terms of numbers”.
“The information that we have is that some of the people who are coming to register here are being paid $40 per head,” said Damba.
However, Zanu (PF) spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo dismissed the claim that his party was bussing voters. “The truth of the matter is that MDC is the one practicing that.
Their councillors in urban areas are mobilising people from outside giving them temporary employment and subsequently giving them fake letters meant as proof of residence.
I have been to a number of areas and I have discovered that this is the tactic being employed by the MDC,” said Gumbo.
Reports of the scam are not limited to Chitungwiza, with Tawanda Chimhini, the Director of the Election Resource Centre, confirming that fraudulent registration was happening in areas such as Mount Pleasant, an affluent suburb adjacent to peri-urban settlements.
“We have no evidence as to who is really transporting people and providing proof of residence to enable them to register. However, we are aware of cases in places like Mount Pleasant where people are being bussed in to register – even though it is clear they do not reside there,” Chimhini told The Zimbabwean.
He added: “Of course, people are free to register in constituencies of their own choice – but they must be normally resident there. What is the motive behind taking villagers to register in urban areas where they have never resided?” MDC-T Provincial Chairman for Mashonaland East, Piniel Denga, said village heads were facilitating the registration process for prospective voters in rural areas, but on condition that those assisted belonged only to Zanu (PF) or promise to vote for that party.
He said some village heads were refusing to write letters of proof of residence to known MDC-T supporters.
“The village heads collect names and national identity numbers for people in their areas and later on bring slips showing that the villagers are now registered voters. They tell them that they should vote for Zanu (PF) since the party is facilitating their registration,” said Denga. This month, the MDC-T issued a statement claiming that scores of soldiers and their spouses in Bulawayo were registering to vote under suspicious circumstances.
In December last year, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Deputy Chairperson, Joyce Kazembe, told this newspaper that cases of people being turned away at voter registration centres were few adding that “they did not find fault with the few reported cases of voters being turned away”.
ZEC Chief Elections Officer, Lovemore Sekeramayi requested questions in writing when contacted for comment, but no response was available at the time of going to print.
Efforts to get comments from the RG’s office were also fruitless and Chitungwiza Town Clerk, George Makunde, said he was not in a position to know of the alleged fraudulent registration as his office was not part of the process.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Programmes Manager, Nixon Nyikadzino, said his organisation had received several reports of illegal voter registration practices being perpetrated by Zanu (PF).
“The reports we are receiving are that Zanu (PF) is sending lists of names of their supporters to different Registrar General’s offices to make sure those people get registered. Zanu (PF) has been doing this for the past three years and the move is consistent with their tactics during election time.
“What they would like to do is to increase their chances of winning through rigging in the next elections. They want to use the margin of error this time than the margin of terror,” said Nyikadzino. Zimbabwe Election Support Network Director, Rindai Vava was not available for comment. The chairperson, Solomon Zwana, said he was yet to get a briefing from his office over the issue. “I have not been in touch with my office but as soon as I get the report, I will brief you,” he said.
In December last year, Zimbabwe Election Support Network Director, Rindai Vava said proof of residence was proving to be costly for some youths in urban areas “especially if the landlord is of a different political persuasion”.
Post published in: News