ZEC blames political parties for voters roll mess

THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has vehemently denied responsibility for the messy voters roll and accused political parties of causing the fiasco by issuing their supporters affidavits with similar addresses during the voter registration exercise.

Pressure groups and opposition political parties have been highly critical of ZEC after discrepancies were identified in the voters roll to be used in the March 26 by-elections.

Two weeks ago, the electoral body came under fire after pressure group Team Pachedu revealed that about 40 people were sometimes registered under one residential address.

ZEC however denied being responsible for the anomaly.

Data experts studying the voters' roll have unearthed several other anomalies on the voters' roll, among them names of 3 253 people aged 100 years or more, including 11 who are older than the oldest known surviving person on earth in the Guinness World Book of Records.

This has led to suspicions ZEC was plotting to rig the elections in favour of the ruling party, Zanu-PF.

However, in a statement Friday, ZEC disowned the voters' roll which was recently leaked, saying the document was tampered with so as to discredit the elections management body.

Zec chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana said political parties, without naming any, were corruptly issuing affidavits with the same addresses to their supporters to register to vote resulting in the confusion.

He said investigations showed that some affidavits had as many as 40 people sharing the same residential address.

"Some politicians are the chief culprits of this problem. The commission has now and again deliberated on this issue in our multi-party liaison committees, but to no avail," Silaigwana said.

"They are the ones who facilitate their supporters to be registered and some of them have been doing so during the current voter registration blitz and have set up desks where they commission affidavits for their supporters for presentation to our registration officers as proof of residence," he said.

"Our registration is done offline and there is no way the commission can tell that there is a high number of people who have registered under the same address."

Silaigwana said the commission did not have the capacity to determine whether the addresses provided were genuine.

"As long as the proof of residence provided meets the requirements of the law, Zec is obliged to register that voter. The Legislature also seems to have taken this into account and provided for objection by voter procedures in the law," he said.

"In terms of sections 28 of the Electoral Act, a voter may object to the retention of any name of the voters' roll of the constituency in which the object's voter is registered and he or she may request the removal of such a person's name from the voters' roll. The onus to object to the registration of any name on the voters' roll is, therefore, squarely on those who are aggrieved."

But the parties, in separate interviews, refused to take the blame.

Zanu-PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa challenged Zec to name and shame the political parties involved in the alleged scam.

"Zanu-PF, as the ruling party, stands by the laws of the land which it played a principal role is sponsoring and voting through Parliament, laws which the President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) who is its party leader assented to," Mutsvangwa said.

"Clearly, the averted statement shows the law being transgressed. If it is true, then Zec and other associated law enforcement agencies should bring culprits to book regardless of party affiliation."

Citizens Coalition for Change interim vice-president Tendai Biti rubbished ZEC's claims, saying: "This is the body that has not been playing fair and independent. So it should zip its mouth shut. The key issue here is that the resident requirement would then make sense and they place difficulties on citizens."

"So, Zec can't attack the lawyers and commissioners that are trying to help people that are desperate."

MDC Alliance leader Douglas Mwonzora said: "It's not the fault of the political party at all….Anyway, phone the spokesperson of the party. I no longer want to comment."