Mugabe rivals fear voters’ roll fraud
ALLIES of President Robert Mugabe have been accused of orchestrating a purge of Zimbabwe’s electoral roll through a secretive Israeli company, raising fears that this month’s presidential election will be stolen.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the prime minister, has lodged objections to the activities of a Tel Aviv-based technology firm after research showed drastic changes to the numbers on the roll and anomalies in the distribution of voters.
His concerns were echoed by the independent Zimbabwe Election Commission, which has been unable to account for the role played by Nikuv International Projects in compiling and revising the electoral roll. Nikuv operates from offices in Harare’s Ministry of Defence, run by Emmerson Mnangagwa, a Mugabe lieutenant, but refuses to answer questions over its paymasters and its procedures.
The election on July 31 is the first since the poll in 2008, which provoked nationwide violence and forced Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party to form a coalition government with Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Findings by Harare’s Research and Advocacy Unit show that the number of voters on the roll in about half of Zimbabwe’s 210 constituencies exceeds the number of adults registered in the 2012 census. At the same time, the roll has been purged of more than 300 000 “dead” voters.
Efforts to ensure that Zimbabwe turns the corner on its violent past led to a referendum this year on constitutional reforms and subsequent international promises to provide funds for a clean election.
However, Mugabe recently forced through early elections, and a subsequent dispute over the release of the funds means that the election commission, chaired by Rita Makarau, a high court judge, has no resources to carry out its functions.
Tsvangirai’s complaint to the commission said there was evidence that Nikuv had a record of “tampering” with Zimbabwe’s voters’ roll.
“What are they doing with the voters’ roll?” asked MDC member Eddie Cross. “Why have they got it and who is paying them, because they are not being paid with government funds.”
Campaigners have called for international pressure to ensure that Mugabe does not rig the poll using computer-based data manipulation.
Kate Hoey, the head of Britain’s allparty Zimbabwe parliamentary group, warned that previously sympathetic governments appeared to be changing policy in anticipation of a Mugabe victory.
“These revelations show the need for the UK government and the rest of the world to turn the spotlight back on Zimbabwe and Mugabe’s corrupt and despotic regime,” she said. “It is incredible that the human rights abuses and election-rigging in Zimbabwe are going on in plain sight, but no one seems to care.”
The company at the centre of the allegations said it would not respond to numerous requests for comment.
Tendai Biti, the finance minister and an ally of Tsvangirai’s, claimed to be powerless to intervene, saying he would not be able to find out whether the Israeli company had been paid by the Defence Ministry until the end-ofyear audit.
“I only know how much money is allocated, not what it is spent on, until later,” he said.
The allegations have been denied by Zimbabwe’s registrar-general, Tobaiwa Mudede.