BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has come under fire from Victoria Falls residents after it cancelled a voter registration outreach programme in the resort town at short notice, citing lack of transport for its staff.
ZEC had announced that it will conduct a voter registration exercise at Mosi-Oa-Tunya High School between Tuesday and Wednesday.
The commission, however, announced a day before the exercise was due to start that it had been cancelled.
Mosi- Oa-Tunya High School headmaster Roland Sibanda said he was informed that there was no car to carry ZEC equipment and staff to the registration centre.
“They notified me (on Monday) because I had given them the venue at the school,” Sibanda said.
“They told me that they were not given the promised car to use as theirs has a breakdown and is supposed to be towed to Bulawayo anytime for repairs.”
Hwange West Member of Parliament Godfrey Dube said he only learnt about the cancellation through social media.
Dube’s constituency covers Victoria Falls urban and rural wards.
“I had to ask one of their officials in Bulawayo after hearing about the developments on social media and they told me that they have transport challenges,” Dube said.
“The cancellation will dampen prospective voters’ mood and kill the vibe that has been there because the focus has been on the youths and all those that did not vote in 2018.”
The legislator said since there was no ZEC office in Victoria Falls, people had to travel to Hwange to register to vote, which was an expense.
Dube said the commission must set up an office in Victoria Falls since it now has city status.
“People have been complaining that they have to walk for 100 kilometres to get registered and for ZEC to make a u-turn after promising to come here, it will appear like a deliberate decision to frustrate prospective voters,” he said.
“There has to be a ZEC office in Victoria Falls because we have rural villagers in the radius of about 60 kilometres, who can easily access Victoria Falls but cannot access Hwange.”
In 2018, slightly over 32 000 people registered to vote in Hwange West and according to Dube, for 2023, they are looking at more than 10 000 new voters.
“As of 2018, we had 32 184 registered voters and we are looking at about 5 000 to 10 000 more people registering within the constituency, but we worry about these long-distance arrangements when there is lockdown in place.”
Activists and the mainstream opposition MDC Alliance have been mobilising Zimbabweans through social media to register to vote in their numbers ahead of the crucial 2023 elections.
The campaign gained momentum early this month when a huge voter turnout helped Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema defeat the incumbent Edgar Lungu by one million votes in the presidential elections.