Nikuv: 'We are open for business'

The Israeli company accused of helping rig Robert Mugabe's re-election has denied reports that it closed it Harare base, saying the report in the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper are malicious and ill-advised.

The weekly Zimbabwe Independent claimed in a newspaper report that Nikuv had "hastily shut down its office in the capital of Harare as controversy swirls around its role in the tainted poll."

In a statement emailed to the Zimbabwe Guardian, Nikuv denied this report saying they were open for business, as usual.

"We saw that report. Unfortunately, it is not true. We are open for business, but are not giving any interviews to journalists," read the email.

"We are a private company, and have no obligation to talk to journalists, save to say all the reports in the media about our business are malicious and ill-advised."

Nikuv's office is in the leafy Avondale section of Harare.

Nikuv said they work with many governments around the world, so why single out the Zimbabwean government as being helped to rig the election. The company also said it was also consulted at the 2002 and 2008 elections, but such allegations never surfaced.

The company says there is no way they would have been involved in "stuffing ballot boxes" because each party had its own representatives at each polling station, and also they do not do their work at polling stations.


This response puts paid to MDC-T allegations that Zanu-PF rigged elections to secure a two thirds majority win in Parliament and 61% win for President Mugabe.

Zimbabweans voted in harmonised elections on July 31, 2013.