The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has revealed that the election of Chief Fortune Charumbira as Deputy Chairman of the National Council of Chiefs was contested.
Charumbira, who served two terms on the Leader’s Council as President, was elected Vice-President during elections held on 10 August 2023.
Chief Khumalo Machane, former Deputy Chairman of the Council of Chiefs, was elected Chairman of the Council during the elections.
But in its report on the 2023 harmonized elections submitted to Parliament last week, the Electoral Commission said some “quotas” had reservations about electing Charumbira to the position after he served two terms as president in the same council.
Zik said there is a need to reconsider the law under which the Council of Leaders is formed to address these concerns.
“The election of the president and vice president of the Council of Chiefs saw the former vice president of the council promoted to the position of president while the former president was elected vice president,” Zik said.
He added: “While there is no explicit law prohibiting this, it appears that there are some quotas that have expressed reservations about electing one of them as vice-president of the Senate after he served as president for two terms.”
“There may be a need to look at this provision and consider its advisability or not in the future,” Zick added.
The election of Senate presidents was held in all eight non-metropolitan provinces on 24 August 2023, electing two leaders in each province to serve as senators. Newsday
