Lupane residents over Zec’s false start
Thembelihle Mhlanga
Residents of both Lupane Local (LLB) Board and Kusile Rural District (KRDC) are bitter over Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) failure to commence Voters` Roll inspection on the first day.
The inspection was billed to start on 27 May, but the voters roll never arrived on what was supposed to be the first day.
Speaking to Community Podium the villagers who thronged the inspection centres only to be told that the voters’ roll is not available, expressed bitterness and raised their displeasure on Zec`s perceived incompetence.
However, Zec did offer an apology about the delay on the first day but most residents were not aware of the Zec statement.
Anna Mpala of Sotani village said she wasted her time going to the inspection centre which is far from her residence, only to be told that there was no voters’ roll.
“I woke up early so that I get here on time only to be told that there is no VR, manje bazodingani khona besimotshela iskhathi, okutsho ukuthi abafuni sivote vele mina angisabuyi futhi la,” said Mpala.
An angry seventy-year-old Josphat Ndlovu of Sotani said that since the ward had undergone some delimitation changes, he took to it upon himself to go and check for his name to ensure that he votes on election day. Ndlovu expressed lack of trust in the whole process, alleging foul play to disfranchise voters
Marylene Gambiza a legal expect said the delay has a bearing on the whole process. She said elections by their nature, are a very sensitive occurrence in any democracy, therefore there is a need for every stage to be conducted in a correct manner as this may affect both the electorate and the candidates.
She stated that there is a legal lacuna in both the Electoral Act and the Constitution of Zimbabwe as they do not give the exact time frame for voter inspection unlike other processes which are timed.
ZEC had announced that Inspection would be held from 27 to 31 May and deployed their teams to the inspection centres on Friday without the voters` roll. The teams had a hard time apologising to citizens all day.
