Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday exonerated the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) secretariat from the 2008 election fiasco, blaming an “underhand” force for the “shenanigans” that led to the disputed polls.
Report by Moses Matenga
The MDC-T has been demanding an overhaul of the Zec secretariat, saying it is full of Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives who were allegedly responsible for the chaos that characterised the last presidential elections.
The electoral body delayed by almost a month the release of the presidential election results where Tsvangirai had beaten President Robert Mugabe, but failed to land the presidency outrightly.
A runoff poll was called for June 27 the same year, but the former trade unionist was prevented from standing by mounting violence against his supporters.
Addressing journalists after a principals’ meeting at his Munhumutapa offices in Harare yesterday, Tsvangirai said the Zec secretariat was influenced by a certain force even to make announcements.
“I don’t think the shenanigans were largely due to the secretariat and you know the announcement could not have been done by the secretariat, but other forces behind,” he said.
“There was so much interference. If the secretariat is to blame, the buck stops with Zec.”
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
He said the body, which comes under scrutiny on Saturday when the country votes in a referendum for the constitution, was competent enough to handle elections.
But the PM admitted that acting Zec chairperson Joyce Kazembe was not qualified to run the electoral body.
“Let me say this: The vice-chairperson (Kazembe) will not be chairperson of Zec when we go for elections,” he said. “We need a qualified judge to run elections. She is not qualified to be in that position.
“Surely if Zec is effective, it should carry out its mandate, it must set the rules and straighten up the secretariat.” Tsvangirai reiterated that he was confident the Zec secretariat would preside over a credible election.
“It will be credible. I don’t know why it should not be . . . an election will be run by a legally-qualified chairperson who is chairperson of Zec,” he said. “I don’t think we can run an election without a qualified judge, in this case Justice Rita Makarau.”
Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed on the appointment of acting Judicial Service Commission secretary Justice Makarau as acting chairperson of Zec.
However, the application has been challenged by MDC leader Welshman Ncube, who argues that the MDC-T and Zanu PF leaders violated the law when they made the decision.
Tsvangirai added that a decision on election dates had not been made. “We have not received a report from the Ministry of Justice on specific legal benchmarks needed to be fulfilled before that declaration,” he said.
