Babies, the dead must stop voting in Zimbabwe: ZEC told

THE Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Professor Welshman Ncube has said that babies and the dead must stop voting, a youth leader has said.

This comes after revelations that babies as young as five months and dead people are registered as voters in Zimbabwe.

Addressing the just ended Ideas Festival: Women's Forum at Entumbane Hall last week, the Bulawayo province youth spokesperson, Khumbulani Malinga said his party was concerned and condemns the high cases of electoral fraud committed by the former ruling party Zanu PF.

He added that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) must see to it that "babies and the dead" who appear in the voter's roll are erased and do not "vote" as usual.

"As a party, we are very concerned and condemn in the strongest of all terms the cases of electoral fraud that the former ruling party (Zanu PF) stands guilty of.

"We are aware that there are babies' and the dead that continue to choose leaders for us and we urge ZEC to normalize the voter's roll, this will usher a new era in Zimbabwe's elections," he said.

Malinga added that his party was of the view that:
1.       The management of elections in Zimbabwe should be done in an impartial manner. ZEC and the office the Registrar General of Voters should be autonomous.
2.       Recommendations proposed by the current ZEC should be incorporated into the election process before any future election takes place. This includes the urgent requirement for an up √¢‚Ǩ‚Äúto-date voters roll.
3.       Properly constituted Non Governmental Organizations, particularly the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (ZESN) should be permitted to undertake voter education.
4.       Zimbabwe should abide by the Sadc Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.

Malinga also said the political and legal environment in Zimbabwe was not ideal to have free and fair elections.

"For now, it is not possible to have free and fair elections. The playing ground is not level. There is a lot of repressive legislations like the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPA), Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act (known simply as the Code) amongst others.


"Activists and journalists are still harassed. The regime is resisting that we have security sector reforms and we have the same sector adulterously going to bed with the former ruling party (Zanu PF)," he said.

Recently Zanu PF has resisted security sector reforms during the ongoing Global Political Agreement negotiations (more specifically on the Election Roadmap). It has argued that the security sector reforms are tantamount to "outside interference" with the State security and the reforms are meant to weaken the security of the country.

MDC formations have argued that the security sector has imbedded itself in party (Zanu PF) politics.

ZEC was established in terms of Section 100B of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. It came into being in 2005 through the enactment of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act. It is composed of 9 members, the Chair, Deputy Chair and 7 other Commissioners. The ZEC officials hold office for a five year term which can be renewed once.

The President in consultation with the Judicial Services Commission appoints a Chair, who is supposed to be a judge or a person with legal knowledge.