The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) conducted its traditional review of the 2023 harmonized elections during a two-day conference in Nyanga this week, where the prevailing issues were the need to extend voting rights to Zimbabweans living abroad, and the need for transparency in election scheduling. The presidential vote and the alleged biased approach to the elections by both the police and the ZEC.
Opening the conference on Tuesday, ZEC Chairwoman Justice Priscilla Chigumba said the review would lead to electoral reforms and officially mark the start of preparations for the 2028 national elections.
The conference lasted from Tuesday to Thursday and was attended by more than 160 stakeholders from political parties, churches, various embassies, police, civil society organizations and various constitutional committees.
Most of the speakers drawn from government and parastatal departments praised the ZEC and the police for holding a successful election, while civil society organisations, Elizabeth Valerio, chair of the United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA) and journalists insisted that the elections were not free and fair. He called for comprehensive reforms.
The purpose of the review is to look at what ZEC “did right and what could be improved,” Chigumba said. In the end, she said that the conference was an anxious moment for her and she was relieved that it was over.
ZEC Vice President, Ambassador Rodney Kiwa, later told The Mirror that the review process was not just limited to the four walls of the conference hall, and called on Zimbabweans who had contributions to make, to bring them to ZEC.
CEC lawyer Tawanda Kanengoni, who made two presentations at the conference, said the electoral law had a lot of gray areas and needed to be specific. He said that such gray areas disrupt the electoral process and called on the Legislative Council to establish an electoral court.
Valerio said hundreds of her party’s candidates were unfairly excluded from the elections by the Central Electoral Commission and described the commission as biased. Valerio also did not have kind words for the police, whom he described as heavily biased in favor of the ruling Zanu PF party.
Techmag journalist Tondirai Tonio Rotsito questioned Police Chief Commissioner Godwin Matanga on why hundreds of CCC meetings and rallies were banned while all Zanu PF meetings were sanctioned. He also wondered why the presidential results were not published on the ZEC website for the public to access. Another journalist accused the Central Election Commission of not having access to the media.
Charles Moyo, Member of Parliament for CCC, called for automatic registration of 18-year-olds as voters.
The Media Commission of Zimbabwe and a senior official at Pfumay Chinamhura Academy have advised the Media Commission of Zimbabwe to review its media strategy as radio, newspapers and television are no longer available. He called on the authority to resort to publications that dominate digital platforms in its awareness campaigns.
Chinamhura said digital media will be a major force to reckon with in the 2028 elections, especially in light of the Starlink license.
Women’s organizations called for tougher measures against political parties that do not achieve a 50-50 women’s vote, including refusing to register them for elections.
ZEC CEO Otuel Silagwana said many of the problems blamed on his organization should be blamed on the law.
“ZEC only works within the law and will not do anything that is not stipulated in the statute. Those who blame ZEC must convince the legislature to reform the laws,” Silijuana said.
He also said that diaspora voting could only happen if Zimbabwe’s laws were changed. Masvingo mirror
