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Women voters don’t trust Zec

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ZIMBABWEAN women do not trust the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to deliver a free and credible election in 2018 mostly because of its links with the ruling party Zanu PF and military institutions.

ZIMBABWEAN women do not trust the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to deliver a free and credible election in 2018 mostly because of its links with the ruling party Zanu PF and military institutions.

BY BLESSED NHLANGA

A survey conducted by the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) targeting youth participation in what will be a watershed general election showed that 68% of young women mainly under 40 years, did not trust Zec and perceived it to be an agent of cooking electoral results.

“A whopping 68.3% do not trust Zec to run the 2018 elections. This is not surprising because, although Zec is supposed to be an independent commission, it is considered compromised because of its close relationship with Zanu PF, an interested party in the election and the government to boot,” reads part of the report.

RAU said the manner in which Zec had handled successive elections especially in 2013, trust for the body in the public eyes had been damaged.

“The management of the 2013 elections also tarnished Zec’s reputation as they were not considered free and fair by many observers, but merely peaceful, and this was in relation to the previous bloody 2008 polls. It is important for Zec to carry out a public relations campaign if it has any hope of raising confidence in its management of the next elections,” RAU wrote.

Despite the deep-seated mistrust for Zec young women said they would register to vote once voter registration opens.

“Interestingly, in this survey, over, 80% said they are going to register to vote because it is their constitutional right to do so, and they want to see a change in government. The majority of the respondents are under the age of 40, so they only know Zanu PF as the ruling party and President Mugabe as the President, and they are curious to experience a different type of leadership,” reads the survey report.