Former Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) commissioner Qhubani Moyo has said there is no law stating that the commissioners’ decisions should be unanimous.
Moyo made the remarks following reports that seven ZEC commissioners disowned a preliminary delimitation report tabled in Parliament on Friday last week saying it is flawed.
The commissioners allegedly wrote to President Emmerson Mnangagwa advising him to “put aside” the report and that elections should be held using old boundaries from the last delimitation exercise in 2008.
However, in his analysis posted on Facebook, Moyo said ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba has the power to override decisions by the other commissioners. Wrote Moyo:
The independence of ZEC is well provided for in the Constitution of Zimbabwe and no State organ should or can interfere with its processes and mandate.
In the case of delimitation processes Parliament can give an opinion that ZEC may choose to take on board or reject.
ZEC is not bound to follow such an opinion as it is not prescriptive, but persuasive except where it is a breach of the Constitution.
The chairperson of the commission, whose appointment process is different from the rest of the commissioners, is the official communicator for the commission and there are no provisions that decisions of the commission should be majoritarian.
In the event of unreasonable sustained debates over issues that are bound to create a national crisis, the chairperson and chief elections officer are eligible candidates to make pronouncements in the best national interest.
Moyo made reference to the Kenyan elections held last year where some commissioners disowned presidential results.
However, the country’s Supreme Court upheld the results.
Moyo added that it was unacceptable for ZEC commissioners to dissociate themselves from the outcome of a process that they were part of. He said:
The decision by the seven ZEC commissioners to deny paternity of a delimitation report they “fathered” is professionally unacceptable and not in the best interests of the nation as they should not reject the outcomes of a process they were part of.
ZEC is expected to produce a final delimitation report by 28 January.