Opening the conference on Tuesday, ZEC chairperson Justice
Priscilla Chigumba said the review will lead to electoral reforms and it
officially marked the beginning of preparations for the 2028 national
elections.
The conference ran from Tuesday to Thursday and was
attended by more than 160 stakeholders from political parties, churches,
various embassies, Police, Civic Society Organisations and various
constitutional commissions.
Most presenters who were drawn from Government and
quasi-Government departments hailed ZEC and Police for holding successful
elections while Civic Society Organisations, Elisabeth Valerio, the president
of the United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA) and journalists were adamant that the
elections were not free and fair and called for sweeping reforms.
Chigumba said the purpose of the review was to look at
things that “ZEC did right and what can be improved”. She said at the end that
the conference was an anxious moment for her and was relieved that it was over.
ZEC vice chairperson, Ambassador Rodney Kiwa later told The
Mirror that the review process was not just limited to the four walls of the
conference room and invited Zimbabweans who have contributions to make, to
submit them to ZEC.
ZEC lawyer, Tawanda Kanengoni who made two presentations at
the conference said that the electoral law had too many grey areas and needs to
be specific. He said such grey areas were disruptive to the electoral process
and he called on the legislature to bring in an Electoral Court.
Valerio said hundreds of her party candidates were unfairly
disqualified from the elections by ZEC and described the Commission as biased.
Valerio also did not have kind words for the Police which she described as
heavily biased in favour of the ruling party Zanu PF.
Tonderai Toneo Rutsito, a journalist with Techmag quizzed
Police boss Commissioner Godwin Matanga on why hundreds of CCC meetings and
rallies were banned while all Zanu PF meetings were sanctioned. He also
questioned why Presidential results were not posted on ZEC website for the
public to access them. Another journalist accused ZEC of not being accessible
to the media.
Charles Moyo, a CCC MP called for the automatic
registration of people who turn 18 as voters.
Zimbabwe Media Commission, senior official Academy Bvumayi
Chinamhora advised ZEC to revise its media strategy since radio, newspapers and
television no longer have reach. He told the Commission to turn to publications
that are dominant on digital platforms for its awareness campaigns.
Chinamhora said digital media will be a big force to reckon
with in the 2028 elections particularly in view of the licensing Starlink.
Women organisations called for stiffer action against
political parties that do not meet the 50-50 women quarter including rejecting
their registration for elections.
ZEC CEO, Utoile Silaigwana said a lot of the problems
blamed on his organisation should be blamed on the law.
“ZEC only acts within the law and will not do anything that
is not provided for in the statutes. Those blaming ZEC should instead convince
the legislature to reform the laws,” said Silaigwana.
He also said that Diaspora vote can only happen if the laws
of Zimbabwe are changed. Masvingo Mirror
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