Fredrick Moyo
Zimbabwe Human Rights (ZimRights) recently provided a voter registration shuttle service during the mobile registration blitz, where people who wanted to register to vote got free transport to registration centres.
The Non-governmental organisation (NGO) provided the service in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare, and Masvingo between February 1 to 28, saying they hope to provide the same service in the next blitz that will run from April 11 – 30 this year.
ZimRights Masvingo regional officer Thomas Mbetu said they hosted the service during the February blitz and are planning to do the same in the upcoming blitz.
“We provided services in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare, and Masvingo. We are planning to do the same in April 2022 and also increase the areas we will be assisting in the next blitz,” said Mbetu.
He added that the shuttle service was successful and effective as it saved people’s time while also providing people with awareness on voter registration process.
“It was effective in the sense that it helped save on people’s time in terms of travelling to and from registration centres. People are busy these days considering the hustles to try to put food on the table. It also made people aware of the registration process, because people could call and even ask about location of the registration centre, so in a way it was a double edged knife,” he added.
Mbetu however said they faced challenges in terms of reaching people as there were some people in other places who called for the service but could not get there as they were only covering Masvingo district.
“The challenge we faced was in terms of reaching out. We had people for example who wanted transport from as far as Chilonga, Mwenezi but our reach was Masvingo district only, hence the need for us to increase our reach come the second phase in April 2022,” said Mbetu.
In the first phase of the blitz Masvingo province only recorded 6 440 registrants from February 11 to 28 2022 which CSOs and resident associations said is just a drop in the ocean.
