HARARE – The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) lifted a ban on voter registration on Tuesday but said by-elections would remain suspended due to the lingering threat paused by Covid-19.
ZEC chief elections officer Utloile Silaigwana said in a statement voter registration, which is an ongoing exercise all year round, and “some fieldwork” will commence on April 1, 2021, following the easing of lockdown restrictions.
“However, in view of the danger still posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to uphold some health provisions of Statutory Instrument 10 of 2021, which are still in force, the conduct of by-elections remains suspended,” Silaigwana said.
“This position will be reviewed in due course and stakeholders will be advised, accordingly.”
The commission, Silaigwana said, was advising all citizens who qualify to register as voters and those wishing to transfer their registrations to visit voter registration centers at ZEC provincial and district centers.
Dozens of parliamentary and council by-elections are long overdue after the incumbents either died or were recalled in the ongoing acrimonious wrangle between the MDC Alliance and the rival MDC-T.
The MDC Alliance recalls have left 39 vacancies in the legislature and 81 in local councils.
Party spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere slammed ZEC for keeping by-elections on hold, calling it unconstitutional and a violation of citizens’ rights to electoral representation.
“Everyone is aware that a number of parliamentarians and councilors have been unlawfully recalled leaving the people in those constituencies without representation,” Mahere said.
“This remains a huge threat to electoral democracy and citizens’ rights under the Constitution.
“ZEC should consult widely and hold stakeholder meetings to ensure that there is clarity and input on its strategic plan and programming for the year,” Mahere added, bemoaning that most of the vacancies were “well beyond the 90-day constitutional deadline” for by-elections.
However, ZEC commissioner Qhubani Moyo pushed back telling ZimLive that any grievances about the scheduling of by-elections should be directed at government and not the electoral body.
“It is the duty of the president to announce the dates of by-elections and ZEC will only conduct and supervise them after such an announcement has been made,” he said.
Election watchdogs, including the Election Resource Centre (ERC), and the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN) have cited elections elsewhere during the Covid-19 era, arguing Zimbabwe can do the same responsibly without risking the spread of the illness.
