2023 Harmonised Elections: A Festival of Illegalities

2023 Harmonized Elections: A Festival of Illegalities

23 February 2023

Introduction

I can’t believe it’s been 5 months already since I last wrote something on this blog. What I originally thought to be a weekly dose was interrupted by major events to my personal life such that I wouldn’t have time to sit and share my thoughts about happenings in Zimbabwe. My sincere apologies to all my readers and followers for that long hiatus. I trust that this edition of the Weekend Reflection with yours truly finds you well in all corners of the globe where you find yourself located. It is also my hope that you had a merry Christmas and the new year is going on well. This election year promises to be filled with so much festivities and celebrations but chief among all, is the festival of illegalities that is unfolding before our very own eyes.

Itai Dzamara Disappearance, 8 years on

Before we talk about elections, the abduction of Itai Dzamara nearly 8 years on remains a sad reminder of how the country’s democracy is highly flawed. In this world, there are so many things which disappeared such as the Malaysian Flight MH370 which is yet to be discovered with some concrete efforts to try and find them all proving fruitless due to the vastness of the ocean the plane is believed to have crashed into. Close home, The Ndebele King Lobengula upon hearing word that he was being pursued decided to flee to safety, disappearing into a place no one knows up to this day. His disappearance, though voluntary remains a mystery as to where the mighty man who was the glue that kept the Ndebele state intact, might have fled to. After the Zimbabwean Independence, we have people like Rashiwe Guzha who up to this day no one can provide concrete evidence as to her fate. In March of 2015, it was just a normal day for our brother Itai Dzamara as he went to have a haircut. Men who looked like trained hitmen pounced at the small Glen View barber shop claiming that some cattle were stolen supposedly by Itai. Obviously it was a decoy story to really confirm his identity. They even asked “Hausiwe Itai here?” (Are you not Itai?) to which the perplexed Itai reluctantly confirmed.

 According to his former lawyer Mr. K. Masiye in his narration of the events around his disappearance, Itai was then abducted by the men who were using a white double cab with folded number plates but the only numbers visible were ABG862... Advocate Masiye who himself once found a grave dug in his compound when he returned from work one day, went on to say that according to an anonymous tipoff message, Itai might have been killed and buried at grave number 71 at Chikurubi Cemetery then exhumed when the prison officers heard that investigators were coming to Chikurubi. When Masiye's team of lawyers and Police arrived at Chikurubi, they found the cemetery having been recently burnt to erase the evidence of exhumation. Itai’s body is believed to have been dumbed at a dam called Chitamba Dam where crocodiles and other fresh water creatures are believed to have devoured his decomposing body. Based on his evidence, and the fact that the dilly dallying of state apparatus which got involved in the latter part of the case, it is safe to sadly presume Itai Dzamara as no longer alive. As if his disappearance was not enough, Itai’s brother Patson Dzamara who himself was also abducted and poured some unknown liquid by his abductors, suffered Colon cancer and succumbed to the condition on the 19^th of August 2020. To this day the Dzamara family lost their bread winners and fathers who would have ensured that the children go to better schools just like any other. They have been forever disadvantaged and considering that Itai disappeared in the hands of the state, the state should have at least taken the responsibility to compensate the family for the loss of income and livelihoods.

5 years since Dr. Morgan R. Tsvangirai passed on

Zimbabwe is a ticking time bomb as it has lost so many people from since the liberation struggle with several unexplained deaths. To this day, no one knows who killed Zimbabwe’s first black barrister Herbert Chitepo in Zambia through a bomb, Josiah Tongogara, Rashiwe Guzha, the more than 20 000 Ndebele speaking Zimbabweans killed during the Gukurahundi. This year’s Valentine was no exception as the country marked 5 years of Tsvangirai’s death, which death robbed the main opposition of a vibrant voice capable of disrupting Zanu pf’s 38 years of uninterrupted rule untill his death. All was however not lost as out came a vibrant voice in Nelson Chamisa, capable of reigniting the hopes for a better Zimbabwe. Chamisa managed to garner more than 2 million votes in the 2018 Predidential elections and this year’s elections he has the capacity to garner even more.

What is disturbing political observers is the number of defections that happened since Tsvangirai’s death. James Maridadi, Obert Gutu, Lilian Timveous, and many more who were the people at the core of Tsvangirai’s supposed team. It can only point to one thing, Tsvangirai was deeply infiltrated. No wonder Zanu Pf used to brag that Tsvangirai will never rule Zimbabwe. They had a lot of intel about his movements, plans and strategies, a thing which is proving to be difficult with Advocate Nelson Chamisa. As we celebrate Tsvangirai’s life, we ought to realise by now that the primary goal of Zanu pf long ceased to be to govern Zimbabwe to prosperity but to protect ruling politicians' personal interests and do everything they can to keep opposition as far away as possible from the State house. That is why hospitals can go without medicines and the government won't bother to replenish pharmaceutical stock, pot holes have been all over with no hope of ever going to be fixed.

To fight opposition, they have gone to lengths, engaging other opposition members such as happened with Douglas Mwonzora in taking the Harvest House and the MDC Alliance to just mention a few. Tsvangirai’s legacy is in the government in waiting, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa because it is the party with the biggest chance of dislodging Zanu pf no wonder the attacks from Zanu pf, Herald, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), Chronicle and many other state sponsored media.

Tsvangirai's legacy is that of fighting for democracy and being the people person he was, he only wanted nothing but a better Zimbabwe where all Zimbabweans are included in the national affairs of the country. He also wanted to see the youths and women uplifted in the communities they lived so that they can enjoy the country’s resources just like the children of those who fought for the country.

2023 Harmonised Election: A festival of illegalities

Luke Malaba illegally Appointed Chief Justice beyond retirement age

The Zanu pf government plans to have a series of illegalities yet expect the harmonised elections to be free and fair. The illegalities started with the reappointment of Chief Justice Luke Malaba back in March 2021. He would turn 70 that year and was required by the Zimbabwean constitution to retire as his age would limit him from being appointed again beyond that date. Even with Amendment 2 of the constitution, he was not supposed to be the beneficiary of the amendment. He benefited anyway and now will retire when he turns 75 in March 2026. The two rulings he made earned him an extension under President Emmerson Mnangagwa. First, sanitising the coup and secondly throwing away the opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s electoral dispute made him the right man for the establishment to be Chief Justice in case there is another electoral court challenge lodged later this year.

Voter registration Process/ Exorbitant price of the electronic voters’ roll

The other illegality is the Voter registration process and the voter’s roll. The voter registration process has been very slow to discourage first time voters from voting presumably against Zanu Pf. The mobile registration process was opaque with no clear drive to encourage the eligible citizens to register to vote. After the voter registration was done (it is still going on right now), the voters’ roll was expected to be released to whoever had the money to buy it. The gazetted price for the electronic voters’ roll was pegged at USD187 000. This was done to discourage political players from having access to the Voters’ roll as most employees in Zimbabwe earn in ZW RTGS Dollars. This was highly illegal as the roll should have been made accessible to anybody who care to get it at an affordable price. The elections are won and lost at the voters’ roll as this precious document determines who votes where and how. As if that was not enough, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has been dilly dallying about releasing the voters’ roll to stakeholders against what the constitution and the electoral law says.

This opaque process gives rise to shifting voters on the voting day and the failure to verify the voters' polling station will highly disenfranchise the voters and deny them their constitutional right to choose who should govern them for the next 5 years.

Delimitation process, Gerrymandering and Gazetting

The delimitation process must be one of the most transparent electoral processes that ZEC must ever do to prove its neutrality. The consultations were not adequate and some of the boundary changes were supposed to be approved by Parliament, they were not. Gerrymandering is the process of shifting electoral boundaries to favour one party over another. According to Team Pachedu, the delimitation process has been seriously gerrymandered in favour of Zanu pf. To give a few examples, Ward 25 Chegutu which is a Zanu pf stronghold was moved from Chegutu East to Chegutu West to favour Zanu pf and dilute the opposition likelihood of winning those 2 constituencies. Masvingo West as well was gerrymandered with several wards moved like chess pieces to add more weight to Zanu pf chances of winning. The ultimate goal is to attain a 2/3 majority enough to change the constitution so that things like Presidential term limits may be removed and Zimbabwe slides into full blown dictatorship. The constitution also says that the names and boundaries of wards and constituencies must be gazetted in terms of Section 161(11). This was not done. The president has time limits with which to gazette the final delimitation report by 26 February the final gazetting date. If he fails to gazette the Delimitation Report as he has done in the past, that will be a serious illegality.

Appointment of PEPs to the ZEC commission

PEPs are Politically Exposed Persons or people who are connected to the politicians in power.  Abigail Millicent Mohadi Ambrose a former accountant was appointed into the ZEC commission employ which puts the credibility of ZEC into serious disrepute. She is the daughter of former Vice president Kembo Mohadi. It is like making Mourinho’s daughter the referee in a match where one of the teams are coached by Mourinho. Will the daughter be neutral? One wonders. Abigail is not the only commissioner appointed, there is also Catherine Mpofu who is believed to be a relative of Zanu-PF secretary for Administration Obert Mpofu who is also part of ZEC which leaves people wondering whether there are no other posts outside ZEC that these could have been employed without compromising the credibility of Zimbabwe’s electoral body. Alongside Shepherd Munhivi, Catherine was also a former public officer at the Parliament of Zimbabwe making these two’s appointment are highly problematic and illegal. These illegal appointments are expected to deliver a credible election when they have failed the credibility test at the first instance.

CCC gatherings Banned

The main opposition CCC has seen almost all its gatherings banned across the country. At one point they wanted to gather for an environmentally sustainable tree planting gathering in Gutu. That gathering was banned for some spurious reasons. The reasons for prohibitions range from the venue booked by others without attaching the letter showing that the venue is indeed booked, locals not willing to have a gathering at their door steps, and the notice not meeting the provisions of the law which the police barely mention, lack of police manpower to provide security at the gathering. What the police is quick to do is to state that if the gathering goes ahead, there will be consequences such as jail or a hefty fine. ZEC is silent about this and seem to side with Zanu pf on this. The banning of opposition gatherings is in contravention of Section 7 of the Maintenance of Order and Peace Act (MOPA) which guarantees freedom of gathering and supporting a party of choice. The police according to MOPA must just be notified not asked permission. But in this case since they act in a partisan manner, favouring one party over another.

No equal access to state media

The Electoral Act Section 160 (G) grants equal access to all electoral actors to the state media. At the moment, that is not happening and that is highly disturbing and illegal as it deprives other parties access to media they also fund through paying taxes and revenues. The only time Chamisa is on state media is when there is a voice over and is being reported in a negative sense.

Many other illegalities are happening behind the scenes with some like access to political finances being done in blatant contravention of the various provisions of the law. Add the arrest of opposition politicians like Job Sikhala who have been arrested for more than 250 days without trial or bail. The combination of these illegalities give rise to a disputed outcome as well as another 5 years of stolen mandate by Zanu pf.

Conclusion

It becomes mandatory for the citizens to encourage each other to register in their numbers to vote this Zanu pf government out and usher in a new way of doing politics in Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans have been in this loop for so long that they have now habituated to sufferings and struggles which has killed so many of their dreams. This edition spoke about how the 2023 is likely to be a festival of illegalities given an orchestrated move to ensure ZEC delivers an electoral win for Zanu pf by hook or by crook.

Sabhuku Nhopi is a political commentator you can find him on sabhukunhopi@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Sabhuku Nhopi or like or Subscribe to his music on his Youtube channel @Sabhuku Nhopi.