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Writes Nhau Mangirazi
There is widespread fear of rural-urban voter migration amid allegations of suspected election fraud in Karoi town, an investigation has exposed.
President Emerson Mnangagwa has proclaimed 23 August as the election date.
A month-long investigation has revealed that some Zanu PF aspiring councillors are using ‘‘‘fake letters’ to transfer potential voters from surrounding farms into Karoi town.
The new voters are now part of Karoi town voters although some of them are using unknown addresses, investigations revealed.
The investigation done in collaboration with Hurungwe Community Radio Initiative has exposed massive voter transfers from rural and farming areas into Karoi town.
Some of Hurungwe Community Radio Initiative citizen journalists observed how the potential voters were ‘smuggled’ from nearby farms and rural areas.
Karoi town is within the Hurungwe Central constituency.
‘‘Some of the voters were given transfer letters by aspiring Zanu PF councillors and registered in urban wards from mostly rural setups,’’ a report by the citizen journalists revealed.
The citizen journalists observed how some of the voters were being transported from their areas of residence to Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) district offices in Karoi.
The majority of the new voters were registered in April and May.
‘‘Soon after the Zanu PF primary elections in March, some aspiring councilors are now propping up their support bases by registering more voters. Primary elections divided the ruling party supporters,’’ revealed the investigation.
It went on to say the aspiring candidates are using some transfer letters.
‘‘The aspiring councilors are using fake transfer letters as they still yet to be in the office to use these documents legally,’’ said an official speaking on condition that he is not named.
‘‘We have witnessed how some aspiring Zanu PF councillors were ferrying some farmers using lorries from as far as Dixie, and Kent farms among others, and registering in Karoi wards. The new voters had fake proof residences written by councilors upon interview they knew nothing about Karoi,’’ said our sources as part of the investigation.
Sources added that their hands are tied to reveal more details.
‘‘The sad reality is that we can’t say much about how these new voters are now overwhelming urban town wards. If they are not registered you may be fired as an officer,’’ said an insider speaking on condition that he is not named.
‘‘This proves how elections will be manipulated in favor of the ruling party when rural voters will be ferried during the voting day. It means people are being used to enable Zanu to stay in power in urban areas. They have the financial muscle and resources,’’ said a human rights defender speaking on condition that he is not named.
Harare Resident Trust director, Precious Shumba, said the move to transfer voters by aspiring candidates is improper.
‘‘The ongoing voter transfer by aspiring candidates is an electoral fraud that must be exposed as they are still yet to conduct any official council business including seeking votes as a public officer. Officially, they don’t have the mandate to write any letters as if they are working on local governance issues,’’ said Shumba.
Officially, Karoi town had 14151 people registered to vote resulting in the same ten wards from previous elections while Hurungwe rural district council will have 26 wards.
The ZEC Hurungwe district officer Taona Pfunye engaged some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the church fraternity to help in a peaceful roadmap ahead of this year’s general elections recently.
‘‘We are appealing to CSOs to help us spread the word of peace among citizens before, during, and post-election period. We need each other to accomplish the task ahead of us as a nation. Elections come and go but as citizens, we must remain focused on the development of our communities through peace,’’ said Pfunye.
He added that CSOs and the church play a critical role during the election period.
‘‘CSOs help us with the importance of voters’ education, inspection, and registration among other requirements. We may fail to achieve our goals and we are appealing to you all to help us. Churches help us with premises where voting takes place and we appeal to you all to help us achieve peaceful, fair, and credible elections,’’ he added.
‘‘Let us educate people on the importance of voter registration and voting itself. Voter registration is an ongoing exercise,’’ said Pfunye.
He explained that all wards countrywide have been dissolved to pave the way for a delimitation exercise done after every 10 years.
‘‘Every ward will be considered equally depending on the local authority resources capacity. According to the new electoral act, a further 30 percent will be for women, youths, and people with disabilities. Once we are done at the district level we will forward the data to the provincial office which will determine whether we will have increased constancies or not,’’ said Pfunye.
Currently, the country has 210 constituencies while Hurungwe district has five.