Voters hail peaceful polls

VOTERS across the political divide in Manicaland have praised the peaceful environment that prevailed before, during and after the recent harmonised elections.

The 2018 harmonised elections were characterised by a voter friendly atmosphere with citizens exercising their right to decide on their political leadership without any disturbances.

In previous elections, violence was the order of the day as party activists used unorthodox means to lure the electorate to further their political interests.

Mr Themba Dekesa of Chipinge said the peaceful atmosphere that prevailed during the election was a sign of political maturity on the part of Zimbabweans.

“I think we have come a long way as Zimbabweans. This time around we are now aware that there is really no need to harm each other because of different political preferences.

“This is what the ideal situation should be. We should not be fighting at all because at the end of the day we are all Zimbabweans and we share the same destiny,” said Mr Dekesa.

Ms Joyline Chitashu of Mutiusinazita was happy she did not witness any cases of violence before, during and after the elections.

“We went through difficult times each time we had elections in this area. We have people that were injured in previous elections and some of them are now disabled as a result of political violence.

“This is the reason we are happy that things have changed and people are free to vote for whoever they feel deserves to lead them. We hope this will prevail in every other election that will come in future,” she said.

An elderly Chipinge man, Mr Samson Mlambo, who was assisted to cast the ballot by his grandson in Gaza, said it was unlikely he would have voted if violence had erupted like it had in the past.

“I was motivated to come and vote because of the peaceful atmosphere that prevailed in the run-up to this election. I would not have come to vote if there was violence given my age and state of health,” he said.

Mrs Wadzanai Munamati, who cast her vote in Ward 12, Nyanga North, said it was her first time to exercise her constitutional right to vote in a peaceful environment.

She expressed hope that the same environment would prevail in future elections.

“Past elections were marred by violence and left many relationships destroyed in the villages. For the first time people from different political parties shared jokes while queueing to vote. It never used to happen in previous elections,” she said.

Mr Noah Matare of Ward 13 in Nyanga North said he was happy to continue with his daily chores before, during and after elections.

“It was like any other day save for the voting. Everyone went to vote without any influence from interested parties. We conducted our business as usual and people continued with their life as usual,” he said.

Panashe Samuriwo of Sedze in Nyanga was happy to cast his vote for the first time.

“I have not encountered any problem; everything went on well. This is the kind of elections that we want to see in future,” he said.