News / National
Hacking forces MSU to stop SRC polls
14 Nov 2018 at 05:53hrs | Views
MIDLANDS State University (MSU) students have raised concern after the institution's administration halted the Students Representative Council (SRC) elections and postponed them indefinitely.
The university claimed its server had been hacked to interfere with the elections that were being carried out electronically.
The elections were scheduled to be held from November 9-15 but on the first day of voting, MSU registrar Erasmus Mupfiga posted an announcement on the institution's website that the elections had been postponed indefinitely.
"This communication serves to inform you that the SRC elections that had been scheduled for Thursday 9 November and Thursday 15 November have been postponed until further notice. The postponement has been as a result of a serious and massive security breach that has been detected by our information and technology department," read part of the notice.
MSU spokesperson, Mirirai Mawere, confirmed the developments.
"Yes I can confirm that they have been postponed until further notice. The postponement is as a result of a serious and massive security breach which has been detected by our information and technology experts. The university has a duty to ensure that the SRC elections are conducted in a credible, professional and transparent manner so that the results thereof truly reflect the will of all the students," she told Southern Eye.
Zimbabwe National Students Union Midlands chairman Tinashe Chiriga, however, slammed the university's decision and accused the administration of seeking to protect a candidate from the Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union (Zicosu), which he said was headed for defeat.
When the polls were halted, Jacob Lawrence Sedze (Zinasu) was leading the race for the SRC presidency with 248 votes ahead of Elsie Moyo (Zicosu) at 102 and Richard Sweto (Independent) who had polled 71.
"The biggest challenge we have is that no official communication was made to the candidates. Just a message to the students on the public e-voting platform was circulated by the registrar," Chiriga said, adding that the development had raised anxiety among students.
The university claimed its server had been hacked to interfere with the elections that were being carried out electronically.
The elections were scheduled to be held from November 9-15 but on the first day of voting, MSU registrar Erasmus Mupfiga posted an announcement on the institution's website that the elections had been postponed indefinitely.
"This communication serves to inform you that the SRC elections that had been scheduled for Thursday 9 November and Thursday 15 November have been postponed until further notice. The postponement has been as a result of a serious and massive security breach that has been detected by our information and technology department," read part of the notice.
"Yes I can confirm that they have been postponed until further notice. The postponement is as a result of a serious and massive security breach which has been detected by our information and technology experts. The university has a duty to ensure that the SRC elections are conducted in a credible, professional and transparent manner so that the results thereof truly reflect the will of all the students," she told Southern Eye.
Zimbabwe National Students Union Midlands chairman Tinashe Chiriga, however, slammed the university's decision and accused the administration of seeking to protect a candidate from the Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union (Zicosu), which he said was headed for defeat.
When the polls were halted, Jacob Lawrence Sedze (Zinasu) was leading the race for the SRC presidency with 248 votes ahead of Elsie Moyo (Zicosu) at 102 and Richard Sweto (Independent) who had polled 71.
"The biggest challenge we have is that no official communication was made to the candidates. Just a message to the students on the public e-voting platform was circulated by the registrar," Chiriga said, adding that the development had raised anxiety among students.
Source - newsday
