Zanu PF ready for elections

Gift Nyathi

The ruling Zanu PF says it is ready for this year’s general election despite claims by opposition parties that the nation is far from ready to hold free, fair and credible elections.

This came out during a stakeholder engagement meeting held at Bulawayo Club hosted by Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) on Thursday  where representatives of different political parties present shared their positions on the readiness of the nation for the big day.

Zanu-PF Bulawayo Provincial Secretary for Information and Publicity Addington Mpofu said his party has set its ducks in a row and is raring to go.

“As ZANU-PF we are extremely ready for the day. We went to a successful congress and chose our presidential candidate and followed it up with primary elections and the masses chose their preferred candidates including the quota system so we are ready,” he said.

However, Bulawayo Provincial  Administrator for the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Sithabile Moyo said the current state of the country shows that Zimbabwe still needs to address several issues before citizens can queue and cast their votes. 

“As CCC  we are finalising our candidates’ list and we are aiming to release it soon but as a nation as long as we  have an Electoral Act that has loopholes we are not yet ready for elections. Our Electoral Act is silent on the inclusion of young women and girls in political spaces but they are part of society who have needs that have to be addressed. Who will address their struggles and from whose perspective. These issues must be included in the system,” she said.

Moyo bemoaned the politically motivated violence that has become a feature of Zimbabwean elections and the uneven electoral playing field that allegedly tilts heavily in favour of the ruling party.

MDC-T representative Witness Dube said concurred with Moyo and added that diaspora vote  remains a challenge that needs to be addressed.

“As a democratic country  we cannot say that we are ready as long as we have not addressed the diaspora vote because we are living behind a pertinent sector of our population.  It is problematic to say that when some of our members cross our boarder they become less of citizens and some of their rights are taken away from them. Let’s give them the chance to exercise their rights. We have approximately 5 million people in the diaspora and we are all equal before the law that is enshrined in the constitution which does not put boundaries. Most of the people in the diaspora have registered their properties in Zimbabwe so they must be allowed to have a say on what impacts their investments and properties. As a country we are failing to leverage on our elections as a tool of problem solving,” said Dube.

The engagement meeting sought to provide a platform for women, youth, and people with disabilities, political parties, CSOs, and the media to deliberate  and strengthen stakeholders ‘s participation on electoral processes.