COME AND REGISTER TO VOTE : ZANU PF TELLS DIASPORANS

ZIMBABWEANS living in the Diaspora must come home and register to vote in their respective constituencies as voting in their present locations would create a logistical nightmare for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) as well as disadvantage some parties like Zanu PF, which are under travel restrictions.

This was said by Zanu PF United States branch secretary for administration, Cde Simba Mujuru, who said Western nations needed to lift sanctions to enable Zimbabwe to develop unhindered.

“People must come home and register to vote, otherwise who will foot the bill for all the resources and logistics. It could exhaust budgets. It is not possible for the Diaspora to vote in the US.

“The US is just as big as Africa. If we are going to say let’s have a vote in America for Zimbabweans in the Diaspora it would require ballot boxes in every state, this will be too costly for Zimbabwe to set up.

 “All those who want to vote should come back home to their respective constituencies and vote.

“Anyone who genuinely wants to vote, the country’s leadership does not refuse Diasporans to vote, but there is no provision for Diasporans to vote in their respective places. There is no such set budget for such provisions. We are under sanctions and it will be an unfair playing field because Zanu PF leaders won’t be allowed to campaign there,” said Cde Mujuru.

Cde Mujuru said prospective voters in the Diaspora can simply fly to Zimbabwe and exercise their constitutional right to vote. Cde Mujuru said due to sanctions, it was not possible for Zanu PF to go and campaign in the Diaspora.

“Our leadership does not have access to voters in the Diaspora, so that they can tell their own story, so that they can campaign. This means that some political parties can go to America and campaign as much as they want, but our leadership on the other hand do not have the access to the voters there,” said Cde Mujuru.

Ahead of the 2023 elections, which pollsters predict Zanu PF would comfortably win, the ruling party acting national political commissar Cde Patrick Chinamasa recently said they want to be allowed to go into the diaspora to campaign.

The bulk of Zanu PF leadership are not allowed to go into the United States and United Kingdom due to restrictive measures imposed on Zimbabwe. “If you want diaspora vote, first make the playing field level by removing all sanctions, so that Zanu PF leadership can go there to the diaspora and campaign freely without being vetted against sanctions,” he said.

Zanu PF US district chairperson, Cde Flo Zezai, said every Zimbabwean regardless of geographical location can vote for a candidate of his choice.

“It’s a matter of where the voter meets the ballot. It’s not about people being denied. In Zimbabwe we say the voter meets the ballot in the constituency. That is the true position.

“We are calling upon every Zimbabwean in the diaspora to reach out to the congressmen and lobby for the removal of sanctions. We are educating the people on how racist and illegal the sanctions are.

“Most of the people in the diaspora do not understand that. We have also taken the campaign to social media platforms to educate people and tell them what sanctions are. I think a lot of people in the diaspora are not educated in terms of sanctions. That is what we are doing right now,” she said. Herald

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