….says people have no IDs
Fredrick Moyo
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has shelved the mobile voter registration blitz, that was supposed to start in December 2021 saying a number of new registrants had no national Identity Documents and were giving them until February to get them, and only then would electoral body resume the exercise.
However, citizens seeking national identity cards and birth certificates are facing challenges in acquiring the crucial documents as they are asked to book first then apply later owing to a number of challenges.
This came out at a stakeholder’s breakfast meeting on access to documents and voter registration organised by Masvingo Residence and Ratepayers Alliance (MURRA) at Chevron Hotel on November 24 2021.
Recently, ZEC announced that the mobile voter registration (BVR) exercise that was scheduled to be held in December have been suspended giving ample time to stakeholders to acquire national identity cards, which are required for voter registration.
In a Press Statement ZEC said that they have postponed the scheduled mobile blitz that was supposed to begin on December 06 2021 to February 2022 after they have consulted with various stakeholders.
“After consultations with other critical players on voter registration, the mobile voter registration exercise pencilled for 06 December 2021 has been postponed to February 2022. The need to uphold inclusivity, which is one of the commission’s core values, has necessitated this postponement.
“This deferment is meant to allow all eligible stakeholders to acquire national identity cards, which are required for voter registration.
“The period initially slated for the voter registration exercise would have excluded some stakeholders without national identity cards. The postponement will also give Civil Registry enough time to prepare for issuance of identity documents to a large population within a specified period,” reads the statement.
The deferred mobile registration exercise was meant to assist people in marginalised areas, those who have to walk long distances to access ZEC offices to register to vote as well as increasing the numbers of people registered to vote.
Stakeholders at the meeting however said a number of people are facing challenges to get IDs saying the registry offices are centralised and people have to fork out hard-earned cash to travel to get IDs where they will endure long queues and take days to get assistance.
“What I do not know is that, is it an issue of the amount we are paying to access the ID’s. Look there is a big problem at the Registrar’s office, an ID is very important in voter registration and once one fails to acquire it, it simply means that they cannot vote, so all begins at the registrar’s office.
“Right now acquiring a national identity card is tough and I understand that people who are going there right now are being told to come back end of December or early January.
“Centralisation is another issue affecting people to get IDs because the points where ID’s are accessed are central, up to the extent that it is difficult for someone to travel from Renco Mine where he/she uses USD $10 to and from, just to be told that they should come back in January,” said the stakeholder.
Speaking at the same event Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Masvingo Provincial Electoral Officer Zex Zirabada Pudurai said that proper documents are needed for one to be eligible to register to vote and they are trying to intensify the voter registration.
“Voter registration needs proper documents and this forum is the best because we work hand in glove with the registrar’s office and their documents are the ones that we need for voter registration.
“Voter registration is continuous and we are registering people right now. We are also intensifying our registration process, we are engaging all political parties and other stakeholders.
“We have learnt from other EMBs that we need to keep on meeting them constantly so that we can actually understand their challenges, wishes and their likes,” said Pudurai.
Various registry offices in the province are not issuing IDs with most of them reported to have malfunctioning machines.
At Zaka registry there are printer challenges and the same is said about Renco Mine registry offices and this force people from these areas to travel to Masvingo where they are booked and take some days to get IDs.
