LAW expert and Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum executive director Musa Kika has revealed that failure by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to proclaim an election date as stipulated by the Constitution stems from anomalities in the supreme law.
Mnangagwa has remained mum on election date three months
before the country is constitutionally expected to go to the polls.
The Constitution stipulates that general elections must be
held every five years, and not later than 30 days before the end of the current
Parliament term.
In his commentary to mark the tenth anniversary of the
Constitution, Kika highlighted seven other mistakes in the Constitution which
include allowing the Constitution to be amended without a referendum, lack of a
transitional mechanism for transfer of power and giving powers to recall
Members of Parliament to political parties and not the voters, among others.
“We missed an
opportunity to clearly stipulate an election date, and we now have to deal with
secrecy. Why should the date of the next
election be a secret to be pronounced by the incumbent, when he or she feels
ready and feels like pronouncing the date?
“What if he or she does not feel like pronouncing it, or
decides to pronounce it on short notice? Who suffers what prejudice? There is
no reason why a whole nation and an entire world should be kept guessing about
when we are having elections, unless someone somewhere wants to do something
with election timing to derive a benefit. Assuming nothing is done or is about
to be done in manipulating timing, the optics and perception are enough to
taint credibility,” Kika said.
Other countries, like Kenya, have specific dates for every
election cycle.
Opposition parties accused Mnangagwa of using his powers to
proclaim the election date to the advantage of the ruling Zanu PF party as he
was also a candidate in the upcoming elections.
“The Constitution sets out clearly the timelines within
which elections must be held although the law requires reforms so that the
election dates are proclaimed independently and not by a party who has an
interest in the cause,” Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson
Fadzayi Mahere said.
“Be that as it may, we have put in place safeguards to
ensure the citizens win big in the August election despite the anticipated
attempts by Zanu PF to manipulate the will of the people.”
Zvido Zvevanhu Paople’s Party leader Godfrey Matadi said:
“When we say these elections are not free and fair, this is exactly what we are
talking about. By withholding
theelection date, Mnangagwa is trying to frustrate and cause confusion among
other contestants, keeping us guessing for his advantage. Without electoral
reforms, we are going nowhere as a nation.” Newsday
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