Zec starts inspecting names of candidate nominators
THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) in Bulawayo province yesterday started inspecting names of nominators listed on aspiring candidates’ nomination forms, following the release of the final voters’ roll.
According to the electoral requirements, each aspiring candidate should have at least five nominators supporting their submission and these should be registered voters. Zec, however, had to wait for the release of the final voters’ roll to check whether the listed nominators were registered to vote.
The Nomination Court sits tomorrow to receive names of aspiring candidates ahead of harmonised elections set for July 30.
Bulawayo District Elections Officer Mrs Sithembiso Khupe yesterday confirmed that they had received the voters’ roll. “Aspiring candidates have been lodging their nomination papers since Monday last week and we’ve been filing them without checking the legitimacy of their nominators. We’ve since received the final voters investigations. roll and we can now check. Those who might have listed nominators that are not registered voters will be called to the Zec offices to collect their list before the nomination court sits on Thursday,” she said.
Mrs Khupe said the submission of nomination papers was going on well with a significant number of aspiring candidates having completed the process.
She urged those who have not submitted their papers to do so on time to avoid the last-minute rush.
“Aspiring candidates can still submit their papers when the nomination court sits on Thursday, although it’s an advantage for them to bring them before Thursday,” said Mrs Khupe. “When the nomination court opens on Thursday, names of candidates who would have successfully lodged their papers will be announced before nomination officers start receiving submissions from others”.
Zec recently released the 2018 harmonised elections roadmap indicating that there would be inspection of nomination papers by the public on Friday, the establishment of a multi-party liaison committee on Saturday and Sunday and the submission of Nomination Court results by provinces on Sunday June 17 and Monday June 18.
On June 25, Zec will publish the Nomination Court results while on June 28 the commission will gazette constituency election officers and their addresses. From June 29 to July 6, Zec will be processing and dispatching postal votes before hosting an observer briefing on July 7 and publishing a list of polling stations on July 10. On July 11 there will be an election of Council of Chiefs and training of supervisors for voter education for polling on July 12 and 13 before the training and deployment of voter educators for polling on July 15 and 16.
The new Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) voting system, which captured voters’ biometric features, will be used for the first time in national elections.
In essence, it is meant to curb double voting by ineligible people, including possible inflation of votes for participating candidates. Government is working on ensuring that this year’s elections are transparent, credible, free and fair. Zec chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba recently said the new voting system was tamper-proof. — @pamelashumba1 MEMBERS of Parliament from Bulawayo who were disqualified from contesting in the Zanu-PF primary elections two months ago have reportedly joined the National Patriotic Front (NPF) party and will contest in the upcoming elections.
Pumula and Nkulumane representatives in the National Assembly Mr Godfrey Malaba and Mr Killian Sibanda were disqualified by the Zanu-PF national commissariat after a vetting process was done before the party’s primary elections.
The NPF, which recently split, is a political project linked to former President Mr Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace.
It’s members include the project’s acting leader Mrs Nomthandazo Eunice Moyo, Professor Jonathan Moyo, Mr Patrick Zhuwao, Mr Saviour Kasukuwere and Mr Jealousy Mawarire.
Mr Malaba yesterday could neither confirm nor deny joining the NPF party, saying time will tell. “We’ll see whether it’s true or not. Personally I think it’s nothing to talk about. People are just excited over nothing,” he said.
Sources from Nkulumane and Pumula constituencies told The Chronicle that Mr Malaba and Mr Sibanda were already mobilising people to join the NPF and were going to contest in the elections. The two were reportedly seen attending NPF meetings held in Harare last week. Mr Sibanda was yesterday not reachable on his mobile phone.
On Friday last week, a faction led by Mr Mawarire called for a Press conference in Harare and announced it had recalled Brigadier General Ambrose Mutinhiri (Retired), who was the NPF interim leader and appointed Mrs Moyo.
Mr Mawarire said the party was going into a coalition with MDC Alliance.
Rtd Brig Mutinhiri, however, addressed a Press conference and insisted he was the NPF interim president and founder of the political outfit, who could not be dismissed by unelected people. He announced that the NPF will hold a consultative meeting to elect a substantive national executive. — @pamelashumba1