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NewsDay

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Uproar over Kazembe Zec return

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FORMER Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) deputy chairperson, Joyce Kazembe is set to bounce back at the country’s elections body, but under a cloud, amid reports her name has caused serious disagreements within the parliamentary committee overseeing the interviews.

FORMER Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) deputy chairperson, Joyce Kazembe is set to bounce back at the country’s elections body, but under a cloud, amid reports her name has caused serious disagreements within the parliamentary committee overseeing the interviews.

BY RICHARD CHIDZA

Joyce-Kazembe_2625318c

Kazembe has served Zec, formerly the Electoral Supervisory Commission, for about 15 years, sources say.

“She has been around and is a controversial figure. There was a row when Parliament’s Standing Rules and Orders Committee (SROC) met to make a decision on the final list after the interviews were carried out in the first week of May,” a source said.

“Of all the 22 candidates, who were interviewed out of the 24, who had been called, Kazembe’s name caused the most controversy.”

Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda confirmed that the final list had been forwarded to President Robert Mugabe for selection of the final six candidates to fill the vacant seats in the commission .

“Yes, that list has been finalised and sent to the Office of the President and Cabinet,” he said.

Quizzed on reports of disagreements within the committee over Kazembe, Mudenda said: “I do not discuss that. No. I do not discuss that.”

Impeccable sources told NewsDay that Kazembe, University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer, Charity Manyeruke, former Zec commissioners Petty Makoni, Bessie Fadzai Mhandara and Daniel John Chigaru, Boysen Matema, Ngoni Kundidzora and Samukele Hadebe are among the 14 shortlisted, from which Mugabe is set to choose four women and two men.

Manyeruke’s candidature also reportedly caused serious fights among the interviewers, with some expressing reservations over her strong Zanu PF links.

Zanu PF dominates the SROC, with Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Sydney Sekeramayi (Defence minister), Mudenda, Beitbridge Senator Tambudzani Mohadi, Edna Madzongwe (Senate President), Patrick Chinamasa (Finance minister), Chen Chemutengwende (Senate Deputy President), Mabel Chinomona (Deputy Speaker), Bulawayo Senator Angeline Masuku and Masvingo Urban legislator, Daniel Shumba constituting a formidable block that can force any issue.

From the opposition, MDC-T deputy president Thokozani Khupe and Nelson Chamisa are the notable ones and, they stand little chance of forcing through anything.

Since the turn of the century, Zec has remained a source of conflict among political parties amidst accusations it is biased towards the ruling party.