News / National
Zinasu victory under threat
25 May 2019 at 10:31hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union (Zicosu) and Youth Advocacy for Reform and Development Students Congress (YardSC) have challenged the outcome of the recent Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) Students Representative Council (SRC) elections.
The elections, held on May 09, were won by the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) but the other two rivals want the election results nullified.
In the elections, Zinasu clinched seven strategic posts including the presidency post and the secretary general's post but Zicosu and YardSC claim the elections were held under conditions that were not free, fair and transparent.
A petition filed to the Electoral Supervisory Council (ESC) by candidates of the aggrieved unions claims that Schedule ‘A' section 1.2 of the constitution, which calls for the use of modern voting methods to ensure transparency, was not followed.
"It is upon our view that the constitution was disregarded since the elections did not safeguard transparent and tenets of democracy. All polling stations at city campus ran out of ballot papers and also at Robert Mugabe School only few students voted. At down town polling station 209, students casted their votes as per the voters roll but 298 where found in ballot boxes," reads part of the petition.
The petition also claims that the polls were marred by intimidation of voters and agents at such polling stations as the Robert Mugabe School of Education.
The aggrieved camps claim the ESC denied many students their right to vote due to the shortage of material.
They allege that ballot paper inspection was never done before elections and the quantity and quality of the ballot papers were not known to the candidates.
The ESC has disagreed claims that the polls were not done in good faith and were contested under protest. It has, however, agreed that the loser have a genuine case in their questions regarding the freeness and fairness of elections.
GZU Vice Chancellor, Professor Rungano Zvabgo had not made a decision by the time of writing but some students have warned against nullifications of the results.
"We know that the leadership of the university supports Zicosu which is associated with Zanu-PF. Let them not dare nullify the results as they did in 2016 when they lost because this time around, the university will be ungovernable," said one student.
Zvobgo nullified the 2016 polls citing many irregularities but the move was criticised by some as a ploy to rescue Zicosu which had suffered heavy losses.
At national political level, Zinasu is aligned to opposition MDC politics.
Posts won by unions in the just ended SRC elections
President….Ngadziore Takudzwa Zinasu
Vice president…. Tapiwa Takavarasha Kunyanya
Secretary General....Chrispen Matose Zinasu
Treasurer……….Tapiwa Mukumbi Kunyanya
Minister of Information....Forward Chaibva Zinasu
Minister of transport....Kudakwashe Muchini Zinasu
Minister of Legal Affairs....Anesu Manyimo Zinasu
Minister of Academic Affairs....Wadzanai Nyakudya Ziansu
Minister Social Welfare....Rosemary Rusere Zinasu
Minister of Entertainment…. Zambuko Luckson Zicosu
The elections, held on May 09, were won by the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) but the other two rivals want the election results nullified.
In the elections, Zinasu clinched seven strategic posts including the presidency post and the secretary general's post but Zicosu and YardSC claim the elections were held under conditions that were not free, fair and transparent.
A petition filed to the Electoral Supervisory Council (ESC) by candidates of the aggrieved unions claims that Schedule ‘A' section 1.2 of the constitution, which calls for the use of modern voting methods to ensure transparency, was not followed.
"It is upon our view that the constitution was disregarded since the elections did not safeguard transparent and tenets of democracy. All polling stations at city campus ran out of ballot papers and also at Robert Mugabe School only few students voted. At down town polling station 209, students casted their votes as per the voters roll but 298 where found in ballot boxes," reads part of the petition.
The petition also claims that the polls were marred by intimidation of voters and agents at such polling stations as the Robert Mugabe School of Education.
The aggrieved camps claim the ESC denied many students their right to vote due to the shortage of material.
They allege that ballot paper inspection was never done before elections and the quantity and quality of the ballot papers were not known to the candidates.
The ESC has disagreed claims that the polls were not done in good faith and were contested under protest. It has, however, agreed that the loser have a genuine case in their questions regarding the freeness and fairness of elections.
GZU Vice Chancellor, Professor Rungano Zvabgo had not made a decision by the time of writing but some students have warned against nullifications of the results.
"We know that the leadership of the university supports Zicosu which is associated with Zanu-PF. Let them not dare nullify the results as they did in 2016 when they lost because this time around, the university will be ungovernable," said one student.
Zvobgo nullified the 2016 polls citing many irregularities but the move was criticised by some as a ploy to rescue Zicosu which had suffered heavy losses.
Posts won by unions in the just ended SRC elections
President….Ngadziore Takudzwa Zinasu
Vice president…. Tapiwa Takavarasha Kunyanya
Secretary General....Chrispen Matose Zinasu
Treasurer……….Tapiwa Mukumbi Kunyanya
Minister of Information....Forward Chaibva Zinasu
Minister of transport....Kudakwashe Muchini Zinasu
Minister of Legal Affairs....Anesu Manyimo Zinasu
Minister of Academic Affairs....Wadzanai Nyakudya Ziansu
Minister Social Welfare....Rosemary Rusere Zinasu
Minister of Entertainment…. Zambuko Luckson Zicosu
Source - tellzim
