ZIMBABWE Electoral Commission (Zec) chairperson Priscilla Chigumba says the electoral management body’s recommendations on the amendment of the Electoral Act to ensure the holding of credible polls were rejected by the ruling Zanu PF party.
Chigumba made the claims on Wednesday while addressing election observers in the capital on Zec’s preparedness to run next Wednesday’s elections.
“Zec submitted several recommendations requiring alignment of the Electoral Act with the 2013 Constitution through the ministry of Justice and Legal and Parliamentary Affairs,” Chigumba said.
“When Zec wants to make a recommendation to change a certain section of the Electoral Act, we write to the Justice ministry, and attach a copy of our recommendation and we requested that our recommendation be incorporated in the law. The Minister of Justice being a member of a certain political party will take our recommendation to his political party and sometimes our recommendations find their way into the law and sometimes they do not.
“Some of our recommendations found their way into the Electoral Amendment Bill, but a lot of them have not and we continue to make recommendations.”
Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and Zanu PF chief whip Pupurai Togarepi were not answering their phones yesterday.
For years, Zimbabwe’s elections have been disputed.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa promised to improve the way elections are held, but the opposition continues to accuse the Zanu PF government of manipulating Zec.
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After the 2018 elections, observer missions called for the alignment of the Electoral Act to the Constitution among other recommendations. Most of the recommendations were ignored.
Chigumba pleaded with political parties to rein in their supporters to ensure peace prevails before and after the elections.
“We are very pleased to report as a commission that the chiefs’ elections were very, very peaceful,” she said.
“I think the majority of Zimbabweans could learn something from the chiefs’ council elections ...”
