The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) yesterday handed a revised report on the delimitation of constituency and ward boundaries to President Mnangagwa, taking into account concerns raised by stakeholders that are not at variance with the Constitution.
At the same time, ZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla
Chigumba said Zimbabweans must always remember that the mandate of the
elections management body was to the Constitution of Zimbabwe and not to a few
individuals.
After handing the report to President Mnangagwa at State
House in Harare, Justice Chigumba said she was confident that the President
would approve of the revised preliminary delimitation report because ZEC had
applied its mind to concerns that were raised, both by the President himself
and Parliament.
“What we did, is we resubmitted to the President the
concerns and our responses to those concerns,” she said.
The corrections are reflected in the preliminary
delimitation report that ZEC handed over to the President yesterday.
Justice Chigumba said ZEC submitted two documents to the
President, one that contains responses to concerns raised by the President
himself and the other responding to issues raised by Parliament.
The ZEC chairperson made an impassioned plea to Zimbabweans
to put the country, its laws, and the Constitution first before selfish
interests.
She said Zimbabweans must always realise that opinions on
the interpretation of the law can differ but the focus should, in the case of
elections, not be on differences but that which binds Zimbabweans together.
“Let us focus on what unites us and less on what divides
us. As ZEC we have been mandated to conduct all electoral processes in
Zimbabwe, and I would like to reassure Zimbabweans; we do not do electoral
processes in order to benefit individuals or to benefit certain organisations.
We conduct elections to benefit our country.
“This is an election year and we would like to go to
elections in peace and in a non-toxic environment. We would like to go to
elections in an environment where constitutional processes are accepted by
Zimbabweans, and where there are questions or queries, we sit down as Zimbabweans,
talk about it, and bring each other on board,” Justice Chigumba said.
In that spirit, she challenged Zimbabweans, from across the
political divide, to ensure that this year the country has a peaceful
environment and demonstrate by deeds that indeed Zimbabweans are a peace-loving
people who have come of age.
“As the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, we have done our
best in drawing the boundaries, what we are appealing for, from our voters,
from the Zimbabwean people, is for peace; no violence as we go towards
elections,” said Justice Chigumba.
“However, as the chairperson of Zec, I pride myself that
ZEC is a family. Whatever is happening or not happening at ZEC, we can assure
Zimbabweans that within the next month or so, we will have everything under control
so that we go to elections as a united ZEC.” Herald
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