ZIMBABWE Electoral Commission (Zec) deputy director of public relations Tendai Pamire yesterday said he was unable to recall details concerning the ballot papers allegedly found in MDC–T chief elections agent Morgan Komichi’s possession.
PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI
Under cross–examination by defence counsel Alec Muchadehama in Komichi’s trial, Pamire said he never handled the stray ballots and neither did he take a close look at them.
Pamire told magistrate Tendai Mabwe that he did not check whether or not the ballots were marked.
After Muchadehama indicated that Pamire had said in his statement to the police that there were three ballot papers marked in favour of MDC –T candidates, the Zec official said it was merely a declaration of what had transpired during a meeting at Zec following the presentation of the ballots to the commission.
“The statement was alluded to during discussions in the meeting, but personally I didn’t handle them (the ballots),” he said.
Pamire, who is the second State witness in the case, also told the court that he was not part of the special vote processing team, but his brief was merely confined to how the ballot papers used were presented.
“I never handled the envelopes or ballots at any stage,” he said. “I was not part of the special vote processing.”
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Muchadehama argued that all the answers provided by Pamire proved that the Zec official could no longer remember what happened on the day in question. He said what Pamire was saying pointed to a faulty memory, personal opinions and assumptions.
Charges against Komichi arose on July 28, after he allegedly misrepresented that a sealed tamper-proof envelope with a special vote ballot paper had been picked at the Harare International Conference Centre where the special vote was being processed. The conduct, according to the State, was in contravention of the Electoral Act.
Investigations showed that the recipient of the ballots, one Constable Mugove Chiginya, had allegedly failed to vote in the special voting exercise as his name had not been called out by the presiding officer. It also emerged that the policeman had been registered to vote at three other different polling stations in Harare.
The trial continues today.
