ZANU PF youths have allegedly been hired as enumerators for the forthcoming national census, raising fears that the party may tamper with census figures ahead of the delimitation exercise as the country heads to the 2023 polls.
A delimitation exercise — redrawing of electoral
constituencies — will be conducted based on the census figures.
The last delimitation exercise was held in 2008, with
opposition parties querying the outcome, arguing it exposed glaring
gerrymandering in favour of the ruling Zanu PF.
Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency spokesperson Mercy
Chidemo confirmed that 20% of the enumerators were drawn from unemployed
youths, with the Public Service Commission (PSC) co-ordinators conducting the
recruitment.
“I can confirm that we hired unemployed youths drawn from
the enumeration areas,” she said.
“The majority are civil servants and there is only a small
number reserved for youths, who are also below 35 years, that are computer
literate and are able to communicate properly. Ministries have been submitting
their lists to PSC for vetting.”
Teachers’ unions, which have been all along used as census
and polling agents, alleged that Zanu PF had hijacked the census enumeration
exercise.
In the previous census exercises, government engaged civil
servants for enumeration purposes due to the nature of the exercise, which
involves a certain level of literacy.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Takavafira
Zhou said it was disturbing that professionals like teachers were being left
out in such exercises.
“One can only surmise that these are Zanu PF youth militias
and those they want to reward for beating people during elections,” he said.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president
Obert Masaraure told NewsDay that their members were told that they would not
be hired.
There are teachers who have been participating in this
process, but they were told that they were going to be replaced by people from
the youth assembly of the Zanu PF party and some members of the Zimbabwe
Defence Forces,” he said.
Zimbabwe National Teachers Union chief executive officer
added: “If there are any plans to exclude members of the teaching fraternity
from conducting the census, we then can’t rule out ‘isms’ such as favouritism,
nepotism and unjustifiable exclusivist preponderances.”
Educators Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Tapera Zhou
said: “A census is a delicate programme and a premise for national planning and
human development, which has to be based on accurate statistics. The deliberate
choice to use poorly qualified personnel in place of teachers is a clear
indication of the value attached to the whole process.”
Zanu PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu, however,
rubbished allegations that the ruling party had hijacked the census and
electoral processes.
“Zanu PF was not advised about how the national census was
going to be carried out. People just worry, and they are so obsessed with Zanu
PF,” he told NewsDay.
“I don’t know what the problem is. We are the ruling party,
and we are the party-government. We cannot be part of those irregularities as
alleged by yoursources.”
In a recent post-Cabinet media briefing, Information
minister Monica Mutsvangwa announced that youths would be engaged as
enumerators following a Cabinet resolution. Newsday
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