News / Local
All systems go for polls
22 Aug 2023 at 06:25hrs | Views
THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has finalised the deployment of polling officers and materials across the country paving the way for a smooth voting process tomorrow.
Citizens will vote in the harmonised elections to choose the next President, members of the National Assembly and councillors.
The proportion of votes that political parties get will determine the number of proportional representatives for the women's quota, youth quota and senators for each party.
Government has since declared Wednesday a public holiday to allow citizens to exercise their right to participate in the election. Yesterday ZEC expressed satisfaction over the state of preparedness and has pledged to deliver a flawless election.
By yesterday most election teams including the police officers were at their stations in Bulawayo while others were being deployed to Matebeleland North province from ZEC's Windsor Park offices in Bulawayo, which was a hive of activity.
Bulawayo acting provincial elections officer, Mrs Pretty Kadzikwa, said they were ready to deliver a successful election.
"As Bulawayo Metropolitan Province we have recruited enough personnel to carry out our electoral activities. We have mobilised resources including furniture, we have pitched tents, our polling stations are ready and everything on the ground is now satisfactory," she said.
"As Bulawayo we are just waiting for the election day except for the few areas that were mentioned concerning the movement of materials from their command centres to polling stations. We expect by midday tomorrow (today) that the material will be deployed."
Mrs Kadzikwa noted the city's water crisis but said this would not deter the election preparations although they were concerned about the shortage of water in some parts of the city.
"We have two bowsers that would be servicing our polling stations where there is no water. We expect that by tomorrow all our polling stations will be having water. We are sourcing for more containers because of the water situation in the city. This is a problem that the city council has to attend to," she said.
Mrs Kadzikwa said the commission has also deployed power backup after they received reports that some areas have had power cuts due to theft of cables.
"We have put in place solar lights, gas lamps and also candles so that during evening or night we have enough light to avoid disrupting voting," she said.
In Matebeleland North province, deputy elections officer Mr Pinos Buligwamanu Bwawo said deployment started on Saturday across the seven districts.
"Deployment started two days back and most officials are already at their stations. We have delivered most of the required resources," he said.
Mr Bwawo said the province had not encountered any challenges that could threaten the smooth running of an election.
In Matebeleland South the news crew observed that in areas like Beitbridge District deployment of officers had been done.
In the district, polling centres increased from 106 centres to 121 this year due to the delimitation exercise.
Just like in other provinces, training of polling officers ended on Saturday before officials were deployed.
ZEC has highlighted several dos and don'ts including that only the commission has the mandate to announce results. It is a criminal offence to announce election results.
Yesterday marked the end of the campaign season as no political party is expected to be campaigning today.
Meanwhile, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana said 24 international media houses have been accredited to cover the Zimbabwean elections.
"Zimbabwe holds Harmonised elections on Wednesday 23 August 2023. In line with His Excellency President Mnangagwa's commitment to hold transparent, fair and credible elections, foreign and local observers have been invited and accredited. International media organisations are also being accredited to cover the elections," said Mr Mangwana.
He said some of the media houses include CNN, Associated Press (AP), BBC, Sky News, The Wall Street, NationTV Kenya, Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and SABC News among others.
Citizens will vote in the harmonised elections to choose the next President, members of the National Assembly and councillors.
The proportion of votes that political parties get will determine the number of proportional representatives for the women's quota, youth quota and senators for each party.
Government has since declared Wednesday a public holiday to allow citizens to exercise their right to participate in the election. Yesterday ZEC expressed satisfaction over the state of preparedness and has pledged to deliver a flawless election.
By yesterday most election teams including the police officers were at their stations in Bulawayo while others were being deployed to Matebeleland North province from ZEC's Windsor Park offices in Bulawayo, which was a hive of activity.
Bulawayo acting provincial elections officer, Mrs Pretty Kadzikwa, said they were ready to deliver a successful election.
"As Bulawayo Metropolitan Province we have recruited enough personnel to carry out our electoral activities. We have mobilised resources including furniture, we have pitched tents, our polling stations are ready and everything on the ground is now satisfactory," she said.
"As Bulawayo we are just waiting for the election day except for the few areas that were mentioned concerning the movement of materials from their command centres to polling stations. We expect by midday tomorrow (today) that the material will be deployed."
Mrs Kadzikwa noted the city's water crisis but said this would not deter the election preparations although they were concerned about the shortage of water in some parts of the city.
"We have two bowsers that would be servicing our polling stations where there is no water. We expect that by tomorrow all our polling stations will be having water. We are sourcing for more containers because of the water situation in the city. This is a problem that the city council has to attend to," she said.
Mrs Kadzikwa said the commission has also deployed power backup after they received reports that some areas have had power cuts due to theft of cables.
In Matebeleland North province, deputy elections officer Mr Pinos Buligwamanu Bwawo said deployment started on Saturday across the seven districts.
"Deployment started two days back and most officials are already at their stations. We have delivered most of the required resources," he said.
Mr Bwawo said the province had not encountered any challenges that could threaten the smooth running of an election.
In Matebeleland South the news crew observed that in areas like Beitbridge District deployment of officers had been done.
In the district, polling centres increased from 106 centres to 121 this year due to the delimitation exercise.
Just like in other provinces, training of polling officers ended on Saturday before officials were deployed.
ZEC has highlighted several dos and don'ts including that only the commission has the mandate to announce results. It is a criminal offence to announce election results.
Yesterday marked the end of the campaign season as no political party is expected to be campaigning today.
Meanwhile, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana said 24 international media houses have been accredited to cover the Zimbabwean elections.
"Zimbabwe holds Harmonised elections on Wednesday 23 August 2023. In line with His Excellency President Mnangagwa's commitment to hold transparent, fair and credible elections, foreign and local observers have been invited and accredited. International media organisations are also being accredited to cover the elections," said Mr Mangwana.
He said some of the media houses include CNN, Associated Press (AP), BBC, Sky News, The Wall Street, NationTV Kenya, Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and SABC News among others.
Source - The Chronicle
