Speaking during an election resource centre hosted
delimitation meeting in Harare on Saturday, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
spokesperson Obert Masaraure alleged that Zec has already rigged the impending
general election.
“Are we going to sheepishly submit ourselves to an election
when we know that these are flawed processes? People are going to say no let’s
rationalise and allow this process to go. Allow an election that has already
been rigged? We all know that everything is pointing towards rigging the elections.
We have a State media which remains biased and a military factor as well.
“Why are we participating? Are we doing it in the sense
that we want development and democracy in Zimbabwe? If we want democracy we
have to say enough is enough and get to a point where citizens say away with
this delimitation process. We will go to an election when the voters roll and
the State media is accessible to all players and when the military is no longer
part of our politics,” Masaraure said.
“These reforms are serious and must be done. We, therefore,
submit that Zimbabwe isn’t ready for elections and we urge those who want to
participate in the process to call for credible electoral processes,” he added.
The Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI) also alleged, in its
January 13, 2022 review paper titled: Zec Delimitation Report: Electoral
Rigmarole and Elite Discohesion that errors observed in the delimitation report
were deliberately meant to benefit the ruling Zanu PF party.
“The report shows evidence of Zec’s gerrymandering done to
benefit Zanu PF. This is clearer when one looks at the constituencies affected
by the delimitation. Many constituencies delimited by Zec fall outside the
permissible limits.
“Gerrymandering strategies identified so far include the use
of a wrong formula to calculate the minimum and a maximum number of registered
voters to determine the size of each constituency and inconsistent application
of criteria used to determine the number of constituencies per province,” ZDI
said.
Citizens Coalition for Change deputy secretary for
elections Ellen Shiriyedenga told fellow participants at the Saturday meeting
that Zec did not do proper consultations.
“We wouldn’t be in this mess if there were proper
consultations. The consultations were prescriptive. Zec used to say if you have
anything to say, put it in writing,” Shiriyedenga said.
Norton Independent legislator Themba Mliswa said he was
challenging the whole delimitation process and was contemplating approaching
the courts.
National Constitutional Assembly secretary for Legal
Affairs Jacob Matumbe said the report was procedurally and constitutionally
flawed. Newsday
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