Political analyst and academic Ibbo Mandaza has been disappointed by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) chairperson Priscilla Chigumba ever since she took on the role. Mandaza also said that Zec was not independent as it claims when it answers to the Minister of Justice, Ziyambi Ziyambi. In an interview with The Standard, Mandaza said,
It is difficult to dispel [claims] that the two (Zanu-PF and Zec) are bedfellows judging by the extent to which ZEC has remained a department of the Justice ministry. The ZEC chair, Justice Priscilla Chigumba, reports to the minister of Justice.
I would have expected that for a person who wants to satisfy public opinions, Justice Priscilla Chigumba would have gone all the distance to show that the commission is independent.
She has been a disappointment if you ask me; Justice Rita Makarau (the former ZEC chairperson) was a much better person.
I can vouch for her as a decent person, but she failed to do well because of the political circumstances pertaining to the electoral process available then and threw in the towel.
I thought Justice Chigumba could have read the signs of the times, understood the demands of the times and lived up to the challenges and expectations.
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