MP raises BVR red flag
AS the biometric voter registration (BVR) continues countrywide, it has emerged that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) erroneously omitted Mudzi South in Mashonaland East from the list of areas that are supposed to be covered by the exercise.
Zanu-PF Member of Parliament for Mudzi South Cde Jonathan Samukange yesterday wrote to ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau advising her of the anomaly.
The legislator told The Herald that he had been notified of the omission by the command centre in Mudzi district at Kotwa.
“I tried to register with my constituency at Parliament and ZEC offices, but I was told that the constituency does not exist and I should register with either Mudzi North or Mudzi West,” said Cde Samukange.
“How can a constituency with more than 55 000 people not exist? ZEC and the service provider did not apply their minds to this and they are not diligent enough. Their conduct is reckless.
“People in my constituency are now refusing to vote. They are not happy and I am going around talking to people who have already registered in either of the optional constituencies to register again in the constituency.
“Even if I win in my constituency, the opponent can contest my victory arguing that I cheated and connived with the system to rig the election in my favour by making people register to vote elsewhere.”
Cde Samukange said because of the anomaly, only a few people in his constituency managed to register to vote.
He gave ZEC up to October 24 to address the issue or he will seek recourse at the High Court.
Cde Samukange’s letter to ZEC was copied to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Mrs Virginia Mabhiza, and Attorney- General Advocate Prince Machaya.
Justice Makarau said the anomaly had been brought to her attention and service providers of the BVR system had since been tasked to expeditiously solve the issue.
“So far into the exercise, we have not come across a similar case, but we have alerted the service providers to report such cases so that they can be rectified as soon as possible,” she said.
ZEC, which rolled out a massive voter registration blitz on Tuesday, has established 2 508 registration centres countrywide for the first phase of the exercise.
All the country’s 210 constituencies will be covered by the exercise.
The blitz is in preparation for next year’s harmonised elections.
It will last 72 days and will be done in four phases.
The first phase runs from October 10 to 26, the second will extend from October 29 to November 13, while the third phase is expected to cover November 16 to December 1.
The last leg will run from December 4 to 19.