Pro-democracy activist and aspiring candidate for Harare City Council, Pastor Evan Mawarire has revealed that contrary to Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) chairperson Justice Chigumba’s assertion that the Voters’ Roll was now available, he failed to get it. Mawarire revealed that he wanted to collect a copy of the Voters’ Roll for his Mt Pleasant ward following Chigumba’s announcement. However, he got the runaround at Zec and was told that the Voters’ Roll may be ready on Monday. Said Mawarire,
At ZEC trying to get voter’s roll for my ward. it’s not available yet. After much up & down I was finally asked to pay $2 and to check if it will be ready on Monday. ZEC is failing credibility test.
Justice Chigumba had previously claimed that the Voters’ Roll was now available, saying that candidates could collect electronic copies starting Friday. Said Chigumba at a press conference.
The Commission is aware that the voters’ roll is a critical component of the electoral process and in some circumstances, a source of electoral disputes. Be that as it may, the Commission hopes that the voters’ roll that is availed today will meet public expectations and stakeholders who have devoted their precious time and resources in complementing ZEC’s efforts towards this achievement. The electronic copies of the voters’ roll will be availed to candidates contesting the forthcoming harmonised elections free of charge in terms of Section 21 (6) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13]. Copies will also be availed to members of the public at fees…
On Thursday, High Court judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi ordered Zec to provide independent electoral watchdog, the Electoral Resource Centre (ERC) with a copy of the provisional voters’ roll within five days of a demand being made. The Lovemore Madhuku led National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) party also sued Zec at the High Court on Thursday, demanding the release of the voters’ roll before the sitting of the nomination court.
Commenting on the matter on Twitter, former minister David Coltart said,
So much for the promise made by ZEC Chair that the roll was ready. If a simple Ward roll isn’t available what chance the national roll?