Vic Falls residents cry foul over Hwange registration centre
Victor Sibanda
VICTORIA FALLS- Residents of Victoria Falls and surrounding rural areas in and around Jambezi feel short-hanged by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission(ZEC) as they are forced to travel more than 100 kilometers for voter registration.
The voter registration centre is at Compensation House in Hwange which is 102km away. Potential registrants who missed out on the voter registration blitzes held last year, are finding it difficult and too costly to travel all the way to the coal mining town to register and this has resulted in a very low voter registration turn out at the centre.
A return journey from the resort city to Hwange costs $10 on transport alone.
Some Jambezi residents have given up on on voting due to this impediment.
” Hwange is very far. I have no money to go there for voter registration. The relevant authorities had set up registration centres at all growth points in the district,” said a resident of Sikumbi village who only identified himself as Tapias. He added that most people in Jambezi communal lands did not register during the blitz as they had no identification documents.
Mkhosana residents in Victoria Falls lamented the absence of a voter registration office in Victoria Falls and called upon ZEC to set the centre at the registry office to encourage more people to register to vote. Residents allege that the use of one registration centre may be a ploy by ZEC to reduce the number of voters in the district.
“How many of us can afford to travel to Hwange just for voter registration. I need about USD $20 for the main bus fare, food and commuting around Hwange. In my ward, most youths are not registered and this is a cause for concern. Sadly they are certainly not going to exercise their democratic rights to vote,” said a youth from ward 11 who declined to be named.
A number of youths in the resort city intimated that the status quo has dampened their chances of voting to elect leaders of their choice despite possessing identity documents and willing to vote.
When reached for comment, ZEC Commissioner, Jasper Mangwana did not respond to questions left for him despite promising to do so.
At the registration centre in Hwange, this publication observed a low voter registration turnout. The station goes for hours wothout any person showing up to register.
Hwange is the voter registration centre for several outlying areas such as Makwa, Mwemba,Kasibo, Monde,Matetsi among other places. These areas are far away such that it is not easy for residents to travel for registration.
In 2021 and 2022, ZEC embarked on the nationwide voter registration blitz but not all youths were registered as some were yet to acquire identity documents.
State media reports that a mop-up mobile national registration blitz is on the cards to ensure everyone needing national ID cards can register as voters if they have not done so and ensure that all registered voters who may have lost their cards have the replacement national ID they need to exercise their vote. The country will hold harmonised elections this year.
“Preparations are underway to conduct a mop up national mobile registration exercise before the general elections,” Minister of Home Affairs, Kazembe Kazembe while addressing Parliament on Thursday.
