The power of recalls must reside in the people
On December 18 nomination courts in Marondera, Chinhoyi, Gweru and Bulawayo convened to fulfil Zimbabwe’s legal procedure in officially verifying and accepting aspiring candidates’ nomination papers ahead of the coming National Assembly by-elections scheduled for February 3, 2024.
By-elections will be conducted in accordance with Statutory Instrument 235 of 2023, Proclamation 10 of 2023 to fill the parliamentary seats left vacant by the recalls of six (6) incumbent legislators.
Vacancies occurred following the recalls of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) candidates on November 10, 2023 by the party’s ‘interim secretary general’ who declared they had ceased to be members of the party.
The recalls triggered the need for by-elections to choose new representatives in Mkoba North, Goromonzi South, Seke, Pelandaba-Tshabalala, Zvimba East and Chegutu West constituencies.
Among the recalled Members of Parliament is the CCC or- ganising secretary, Amos Chiba- ya, who is also Chief Whip of the party, and the party’s deputy spokesperson Gift Ostallos Siziba, representing Mkoba North and Pelandaba-Tshabalala respectively.
Admore Chivero (Chegutu West), Tapfumaneyi Willard Madzimbamuto (Seke), Oliver Mutasa (Zvimba East) and Stephen Chatiza (Goromonzi South) also ceased to be members of Parliament for their respective constituencies on November 10.
In line with its objectives, the Zimbabwe Election Supervisory Network (Zesn) members observed the nomination processes at designated magistrates courts.
Due to resource constraints, Zesn members observed the nomination process for parliamentary contenders only and excluded nomination sittings for the 12 local authority councillors.
To promote consistency across its observation, Zesn agreed on a common framework and approach through which members were guided in terms of gathering information on the process and outcome of the nomination.
Overall, the December 18, nomination saw a reduction in competition for constituency seats by candidates who lodged their nomination papers.
This is in comparison to the June 21, 2023 nomination process, in preparation for the 23 August 2023 Harmonised Elections for the same constituencies.
Candidate fatigue emanating from a series of recalls that has kept Zimbabwe in an electioneering mode, subsequent by-elections in a noticeably short space of time coupled with high nomination fees deter candidates from participating in elections.
The nomination result shows that CCC filed double candidates in some constituencies, two candidates were nominated under the party in Goromonzi South and Pelandaba-Tshabalala.
Three CCC aspiring candidates (Pelandaba-Tshabalala, Mkoba North and Goromonzi South) filed nomination papers under the CCC party, notwithstandingthe December 7 High Court ruling that barred recalled candidates from contesting under the party.
Three recalled CCC legislators decided to run as independents in Zvimba East, Seke and Chegutu West.
The nomination court proceedings were peaceful, calm and successfully gave the candidates equal opportunity to file their papers.
Zesn noted that nomination courts sitting at various magistrates courts demonstrated key aspects of inclusion as women played a pivotal role under the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec).
Zesn also applauds citizens for their political maturity and peace, for respecting each other and refraining from delegitimising the nomination process or each other.
However, from the same observations, Zesn wishes to recommend that:
Political parties must improve on intra-party democracy, whose absence sometimes manifests in the fielding of double candidates.
Zec should conduct massive voter education to avert the likely voter apathy in the coming by-elections.
Parliament should amend Section 129 (k) of the constitution as recalls place a heavy burden on the fiscus, contribute to voter apathy and affect the essence of democracy.
The power to recall, if any, must reside in the people and not the political parties as is the trend in the majority of democracies.
There is need to register and regulate political parties to address the issue of recalls as they bring into question the significance and relevance of elections.
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