ZEC must justify budget
EDITOR — The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) recently announced that it would cost about $274 million to conduct the next poll.
It is in the interest of the whole country that Justice Rita Makarau and her team provide a breakdown of how that money is going to be allocated for the avoidance of doubt.
Elections require transparency and the costing will be an opportunity for ZEC to gain the public’s trust. The proposed figure almost doubles what was used in the 2013 election and I understand that it is in line with the projected seven million voters for the 2018 election.
However, there is need for ZEC to provide their past voter projections and how accurate they were. Because it would be unfortunate for the country to devote resources to a numerical forecast that may not be watertight.
On the Diaspora vote, I think it would be difficult for ZEC, who already have an inflated budget, to be able to conduct elections in each and every country that houses Zimbabweans.
Sadly, those in the United Kingdom think that there should be precedence to them forgetting that it would be unconstitutional for ZEC to favour people in a certain country while leaving out others.
If ZEC is to allow Diaspora vote, they would have to establish polling centres in every country Zimbabweans are found, even if they are three and that would be overstepping their mandate.
People are already complaining about their local budget, imagine if they were to add Diaspora vote costs as well!
Daniel Nxumalo, Bindura.