THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) secretariat should be disbanded and new civilian staff employed before the 2023 elections to ensure the credibility of the electoral management body, independent election watchdogs have said.
The opposition and other civic groups have previously
raised concern over the ‘heavy militarisation’ of Zec’s secretariat saying this
compromised the electoral management body’s integrity.
In an interview with NewsDay Weekender, Zimbabwe Election
Advocacy Trust (ZEAT) executive director Ignatious Sadziwa said Zec should
employ impartial people to ensure free and fair elections.
“Utoile Silaigwana, who is the head of secretariat of the
commission is a former army officer and a host of other members are either
aligned to the CIO [Central Intelligence Organisation] or police, something
that the Constitution does not allow. We advocate for the disbandment of both
the commission and the secretariat and employ impartial civilians to manage
elections as espoused in the Constitution,” Sadziwa said.
“The year 2022 has been a long tumultuous and contentious
election year for next year's general elections. We held by-elections under
very difficult conditions amid contestations between Zec, the civil society and
political parties mainly the Citizens Coalitions for Change over a myriad of
issues.
“The issue of ballot paper printing which is shrouded in
opaque and shadowy dealings, the unilateral appointment of compromised Zec
officials without due diligence is another landmine which compromises the
integrity of Zec.”
Sadziwa also condemned the Electoral Amendment Bill as a
‘fraud’ to avoid implementing much-needed electoral reforms.
“The Electoral Amendment Bill which is now in its third
reading in Parliament is another fraud as it fell short in addressing the above
mentioned anomalies. We are currently witnessing raising horrific cases of
electoral violence especially in rural areas, a trend which will render
elections fair. There is a need for an all stakeholder’s electoral conference
to try and mitigate some of these problems,” he said.
Election Resource Centre’s legal and advocacy officer
Takunda Tsunga said: “The electoral commission must take steps to address the
issues that affected the electoral environment in 2022 which includes taking
steps to address politically-motivated violence and the partisan conduct of
traditional leaders. Additionally, the commission should further carry out
voter registration campaigns to ensure inclusion of all.”
But Zec spokesperson Jasper Mangwana said the Constitution
does not bar former serving army officers from being employed by Zec.
“These are just malicious issues raised by the stakeholders
but we want to make it clear that the commission has no employee who is a
serving member of any of the security organisations of the country,” Mangwana
said.
“Even if there are former, they don’t report to those
structures, they report directly to the commission. The commission is the
ultimate authority in terms of who is to be employed.
“There is no law that bars anyone who has been previously
employed as former security personnel to apply for a job in the commission if
they have the qualifications and the experience. These are just baseless
allegations.” Newsday
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