Zanu-PF 'tinkers' with 2018 voters' roll

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has reportedly set in motion an elaborate plot to influence the structure of the 2018 national voters' roll and eventually rig the polls, NewsDay reported.

Impeccable Zanu-PF sources told NewsDay that a detailed report of the alleged plot was presented to the politburo two weeks ago by the party's political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, and secretary for science and technology, Jonathan Moyo, leading to its adoption.

But both Zanu-PF and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) denied the claims yesterday.

"Kasukuwere and Moyo presented a plan that will see Zanu-PF go on a massive membership registration exercise to create an electronic database," a source revealed.

"This database will then be used as a template for the national voters' roll that is to be used in the 2018 elections. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will structure its roll around the party's membership register. The politburo agreed to this and that is why the President was happy with Kasukuwere."

Addressing journalists after the politburo meeting two weeks ago, Zanu-PF secretary for administration Ignatius Chombo said: "The commissariat department and the department of science and technology headed by Jonathan Moyo gave a presentation on an electronic cards system. This will keep the party abreast with the new technology and changes in ICT."

According to sources, Zanu-PF was planning to urge Zec to adopt its electronic membership register as a template on which the national voters' roll would be built.

Chombo yesterday could neither confirm nor deny the alleged plot.