ZEC urged to cater for PWDs 

Thembelihle Mhlanga

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has been challenged to introduce systems that are user-friendly to people with disabilities (PWDs).

Speaking to Community Podium the National Association for Caring Organizations for the Handicapped (NASCOH) Matabeleland North focal person, Mandlenkosi Siwela implored ZEC to set up systems that enable the concerned electorate to participate with ease in electoral process.

“We encourage ZEC to modernize its equipment  with software that will allow  visually impaired voters to validate their recorded information instead of having to be at the mercy of officials who may make mistakes. Trust is a big issue,” said Siwela.

He revealed that NASCOH is willing to work with ZEC for an improved, accommodative and  inclusive system, arguing that such a system would reduce voter assistance which has been a thorny issue in Zimbabwe’s often maligned electoral system. They have been allegations of literate people and PWDs being allegedly told to declare illiteracy and disbality in order to be assisted as voters.

Zikode Sithole, a PWD of Ward 13 in Lupane said ZEC should provide braille ballots so that the visually impaired persons can vote with ease. 

Nkosiyabo Mdlongwa  of Bhanda village in  ward 18, who has a hearing challenge, expressed surprise that ZEC is still failing to provide sign language interpreters in this era.

“It is amazing that during registration ZEC asks for and claims to capture our disability but for no reason as they fail to provide officials who will communicate with us and give us proper voting instructions on polling day,” said Mdlongwa.

 NASCOH is an affiliate to Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) advocating  for the reformation of electoral processes in Zimbabwe.

Headquartered in Harare and founded in 1969, NASCOH is the umbrella body of 70 organisations of and for people with disabilities (PWDs) in Zimbabwe, representing the mentally and physically challenged, the visually and hearing impaired, and those with conditions like epilepsy and Down syndrome.