THE ZIMBABWE Electoral Commission (ZEC) continues to come under fire after it came to light that the electoral body used the maiden name of Umzingwane Zapu candidate, instead of the marital name which she used to file her papers at the nomination court.
RICHARD MUPONDE
Mildred Mkandla revealed to Southern Eye yesterday that ZEC used her maiden name — Ndlovu which she stopped using in 1976 before she got married.
Mkandla stood as the Zapu House of Assembly candidate for Umzingwane and is the party’s provincial secretary for Matabeleland South. She says this error could have cost her votes as a result of the confusion.
“I campaigned as Mildred Mkandla, all my posters had Mildred Mkandla on them, as that was the name that I am known by and have been known by since August 14 1976 when I got married,” she said.
“I have not used any other name on any of my official documents or transactions for 37 years.”
She said she was shocked when the ZEC constituency elections officer was announcing results for an M Ndlovu under the Zapu ticket.
“I immediately sought clarification on where the Ndlovu name came from and the officer told me that this was on the template they had received,” she added.
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“On Friday morning when the results were announced on ZBC, ZEC deputy chairperson Joyce Kazembe read out Mildred Mkandla as the Zapu candidate for Umzingwane.
“However, in The Herald and in the Chronicle of August 3, Mildred Ndlovu appears instead.
“Is this a mistake and what is its source? What are the implications of this? Do I appear in the voters’ roll as Mildred Mkandla and also as Mildred Ndlovu or is Mildred Ndlovu a totally different person?” She said when she registered to vote, she used her marital name Mkandla.
“After failing to find my name on the voters’ roll in 2011, I re-registered as a voter at the Umzingwane registry on November 7 2011,” she continued.
The latest development comes as Zapu says it has uncovered massive irregularities in the voters’ roll. It says it discovered that there were more than 21 000 thousand people on the electoral register that were more than 100 years old.
ZEC Chairperson Justice Rita Makarau could not be reached for comment as her mobile phone was unreachable, while her deputy Kazembe’s phone went unanswered.
