We woke up to shocking news on Saturday that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) will not appoint a constituency delimitation commission as demanded by our Constitution because of financial constraints. This, Zec said, means the number of constituencies would remain at 210.
Editorial Comment
“There is no delimitation this time around,” Zec acting chairperson Joyce Kazembe said. “The 210 constituencies will remain as they are now. Even in wards, we will use what is there now.”
It is a constitutional requirement that a delimitation commission should be set up to draw constituency boundaries ahead of general elections in line with the number of registered voters. We are slowly turning into a country that does not uphold its own Constitution.
Several constitutional provisions have been flouted since the inclusive government was formed. Despite the Constitution and our statutes stipulating that a by-election should be held six months after a constituency becomes vacant, not a single one has been conducted since the March 2008 harmonised polls. This is despite that we have about 40 vacant parliamentary seats.
What shocks us even more is the silence of the MDC formations when they witness the flagrant violation of our supreme law. It is in their interests to safeguard the Constitution by demanding the appointment of a delimitation commission.
A quick look at the delimitation exercise for the 2008 House of Assembly elections showed that it was biased in favour of Zanu PF and it revealed glaring gerrymandering by the electoral body.
From the 210, Zec allocated 143 constituencies to communal lands and the remaining 67 to urban and peri-urban areas. The provincial distribution of the constituencies gave Zanu PF a slight advantage over its opponents.
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Matabeleland North had 13 constituencies, Mashonaland West 22, Matabeleland South 13, Bulawayo 12, Harare 29, Midlands 28, Manicaland 26, Mashonaland Central 18, Mashonaland East 23 and Masvingo 26.
The boundaries were drawn up after dividing the number of registered voters that stood at 5 612 464 by the 210 seats to get an average of 26 726,02 voters a constituency.
Stakes are high in next year’s elections and it is incumbent upon the MDC formations to demand the appointment of a delimitation commission in line with the law. Funds have to be mobilised for this very important exercise.
The current scenario which Zec wants to adopt favours Zanu PF. It is biased in favour of perceived Zanu PF strongholds.
There are more constituencies in rural areas where the ruling party claims to have its majority support and where it can easily intimidate voters.
