THE Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (Zesn) has accused Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa of influencing voting patterns in the recently held Chirumanzu-Zibagwe by-election after he allegedly intimidated party supporters to vote for his wife, Auxilia.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Addressing journalists in Harare during presentation of her organisation’s post-election review report, Zesn director Rindai Chipfunde Vava said Mnangagwa applied unorthodox means to ensure that his wife won the seat at all costs.
Auxillia won the by-election by a wide margin, garnering 16 092 votes while her rivals’ combined votes were less than 1 000.
“The Vice-President (Mnangagwa) played a role in intimidating the electorate in Chirumanzu-Zibagwe constituency,” she said.
“In terms of the damage and impact it caused, that was a reminder of the 2008 violent elections,” she said.
Mnangagwa could not be reached for comment yesterday. The Zesn director also raised concern over the involvement of police in assisting the voters saying their role should only end at maintaining order.
Several people were killed while many others were tortured during violent 2008 elections that were widely condemned by opposition parties, local and international election observers.
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Bornwell Seremwe of Zanu PF also won by-elections in Mt Darwin West constituency by a wide margin.
Zesn raised concern over the manner in which the by-elections were conducted in both constituencies and recommended that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) should be more capacitated in dealing with elections.
“Government must ensure the full alignment of the electoral law to the constitutional provisions and review the regulations in order to improve electoral processes and increase transparency and public confidence in elections, including in the areas of voter education, registration and inspection.
“Zec must include all stakeholders including political parties and the civil society in the ongoing voter registration exercises and must diligently provide access to the voters’ roll to all stakeholders in print and searchable electronic format,” Zesn said.
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) said it now understood why opposition parties were boycotting elections after noting a number of inconsistencies in the manner the two by-elections were held.
“These by-elections were not free and fair. For example, in the resettlement areas, some people were told that if they make any independent choices, the land would be taken away just as it happened to some in the previous elections,” Bishop Alexio Muchabaiwa, the chairperson of the CCJP, told journalists on Monday.
