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The Zimbabwe Civil Society Anti-Corruption Coalition (ZCSACC) has criticized the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for its lack of transparency.The group said that the country’s electoral management body was heavily compromised and unfit to hold a credible elections in 2023.
In a damning report released by the group,lack of independence has been cited as one of the major flaws that have undermined ZEC’s ability to hold credible elections next year.
’’The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) is largely perceived as lacking independence due to its conduct, and the composition of its commissioners that is made up of individuals who are allegedly aligned to the ruling Zanu PF political party.”read the report.
Elections in Zimbabwe have been marred by allegations of rigging and a flawed voters roll which has seen the credibility of the election body being compromised.The Zimbabwe Civil Society Anti-Corruption Coalition argued that the trend is likely to continue if the issue of the anomalies found in the voters roll are not addressed before the next plebiscite in 2023 as the flaws would benefit a political organization at the expense of other political players
‘’In addition to the voters’ roll costing an exorbitant fee of US$187 000 to access it, the one that will be used for the 2023 harmonised elections was reported to be shambolic, which calls for serious scrutiny and audit for it to be credible. Whilst section 35 of the Electoral Act gives the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) the power to ensure the integrity of the roll, there was a feeling that the EMB [election management body] has no interest to clean it for the benefit of certain political players in the country.
There are several anomalies that include multiple registrants using the same address and non-existent addresses. By making the voters’ roll expensive and shambolic, Zec wants to hide its shortcomings that might be used to rig the 2023 plebiscite.”added the report.
ZEC’s credibility came under the spotlight in 2008 when the country held its general elections.More than a month after general elections were held on March 29, 2008.ZEC was still holding onto the results sparking fears of rigging. The failure to release results was strongly criticised by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which unsuccessfully sought an order from the High Court to force their release.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on May 2 2008 released results of the presidential elections which showed that Tsvangirai won 47.9% of the vote and Mugabe 43.2%, necessitating a run-off,which was to be held on 27 June 2008.
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