Are elections in Zim real or a farce?

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ONE of the main objectives of the liberation struggle waged from 1966-1979 was to have a one-man one-vote system, which had been denied to the black majority by the oppressive and colonial Rhodesian regime. This was achieved in 1980 on the attainment of independence.

ONE of the main objectives of the liberation struggle waged from 1966-1979 was to have a one-man one-vote system, which had been denied to the black majority by the oppressive and colonial Rhodesian regime. This was achieved in 1980 on the attainment of independence.

This first democratic elections were held in 1980 and supervised by the British government. These were won by Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister.

Thereafter, elections were held religiously in 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008 and the next will be held in 2018. In 1987, the only credible opposition party, Zapu, merged with Zanu to form one party, Zanu PF and there was an amendment of the Constitution to have an Executive President and this position was taken up by Mugabe.

In 1985 a newly independent Zimbabwe held general elections for the first time under local supervision and Mugabe was re-elected with an increased majority. These elections were held during the Gukurahundi era, that had swept people in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.

The credibility of these elections was, therefore, questionable. Voting in the two provinces was conducted in a very tense environment, with State security agents on the ground.

Bornwell Seremwe Zanu PF candidate for Dotito casting his vote

The year 1990 saw Zimbabwe going to elections under an amended Constitution that created an elected Executive President and abolished the senate. Edgar Tekere of the Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM), competed against Mugabe for the Executive Presidency.

Tekere had just been expelled from Zanu PF for strongly standing against Mugabe’s notion of a one-party State and highlighting the evils of nepotism, corruption and inefficiency that had manifested in the Zanu PF regime.

In this election, ZUM supporters were the targets of violent attacks that culminated in the attempted murder of the late former Gweru mayor, Patrick Kombayi.

His attackers were arrested, tried and convicted by the courts, but were mysteriously pardoned by Zanu PF head, Mugabe.

The 1996 elections were contested by the incumbent Mugabe, Abel Muzorewa of UANC and Ndabaningi Sithole of Zanu (Ndonga). Muzorewa and Sithole later withdrew from the contest due to prohibitive conditions that had been set by the regime to frustrate the opposition.

Fierce violence was also unleashed against their supporters and it was clear that the electoral field was not level and favoured the incumbent Zanu PF government.

Mugabe got 90% of the vote and voter turnout was only 32%, a clear testimony of a volatile atmosphere.

In 1997, Sithole was convicted on trumped up charges of conspiring to assassinate Mugabe, he appealed and died while out on bail.

In 2002, Mugabe won by 56,2% against Morgan Tsvangirai, who got 42% in an environment riddled with violence against all opposition supporters, some urban voters were de-registered and the rural voters roll was badly tempered with. Reports of intimidation and presence of harmful State security agents dominated the local media, a strategy by Zanu PF that discredited our elections.

These elections were declared credible by Sadc and the African Union, but widely condemned by local voters, opposition political parties, the European Union, independent election observers, civil society, academics and other western governments.

The 2008 and 2013 elections were a replay of previous elections in which Zanu PF and Mugabe again emerged victorious through rigging as usual. In a nutshell, elections in Zimbabwe are held under conditions that favour the incumbent.

Although the elections, have been held on a regular basis, it is crystal clear that the result is always predetermined in favour of the incumbent and the opposition parties being used to legitimise the end result. It was, therefore, logical for the main opposition parties to boycott the recent by-elections held in June, 2015.

These elections have all failed to meet the minimum benchmarks outlined in section 155 of The Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Electoral Act.

The Constitution is clear that elections must be peaceful, free and fair. Contesting political parties and candidates should be granted access to both print and electronic media. Fair play is where the ground is level and the referee is non-partisan.

It is absolutely clear that there is no political will on the part of the Zanu PF regime to implement electoral reforms and accordingly align the laws to the new Constitution. This makes the outcome of any future elections held under this environment predictably in favour of the incumbent, where Zanu PF is the contestant and the referee at the same time. The long term outcome will be an entrenched Zanu PF one party State.

To improve on the credibility and reliability of the voter registration system, it is vital that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) introduces the biometric voter registration system (BVR).

BVR comprises of a laptop, fingerprint scanner and a camera. BVR captures a voter’s facial image, finger prints and personal data – that is name, national identity card number and contact details.

Data from the BVR machines is transferred to a centralised master storage server, from which hard copy registers can be printed. The physical registers are then distributed to polling centres for people to check and verify their details.

Registration should take place where the prospective voter is expected to cast his/her vote on election day.

This now takes us to a recommendation to introduce a polling station-based voting system, instead of the ward-based voting system. This will eliminate the possibility of rigging by voting several times at various polling stations within the ward.

Some of the advantages of the BVR system are an elimination of duplicate registration of voters, capture of voter’s records is fast, efficient and direct and it provides the polling officer multiple ways of identifying voters for example facial features, fingerprints, names and identity card numbers.

BVR also provides a basis for a possible e-voting in future by use of biometric technologies. Cross matching of data from BVR and the Register General’s office can help in the removal of ghost voters from the voters’ role by ensuring that those who have died are removed.

The system can also help in identifying those who have attained the voting age and are contacted to register.

l Inos Nyoni is MDC director of elections