Former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono cannot take over the Manicaland Senate seat vacated by former politburo member Kumbirai Kangai. At least for now. He is not a registered voter in Manicaland. He is registered in Harare. Zimbabwe Electoral Commission boss Rita Makarau, a Supreme Court judge, said Gono could not even transfer his registration to Manicaland because the current legal framework does not allow him to. “Now that the function to register and transfer voters is vested in ZEC, the most practical way around the current difficulty would have been for Dr Gono to apply to the commission to transfer his vote from Harare to Buhera West. Again, Honourable Chairman, we regret to advise that, whilst we now have the constitutional mandate to register and transfer voters and are willing and ready to register and transfer voters, there is no legal framework on voter registration and allied matters as envisaged in section 157 (1) (b) of the Constitution, a vacuum that has made us hold back on voter registration, thereby prejudicing not only Dr Gono in this case, but the generality of the electorate in Zimbabwe,’’ Makarau wrote to Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front chairman Simon Khaya Moyo. Gono was imposed by the politburo and was not on last year’s party list. According to The Herald, party Secretary for Administration Didymus Mutasa said Gono would be appointed Senator even if that meant changing the law. “The politburo wants Dr Gono to be a Senator and if it means that the law would be amended, then let it be. No one will reverse the decision of the politburo. We will ensure that the law fits with the requirements of the party. Ukaona vakuru vachitadziswa kuenda pachigaro nekuda kwevaduku, then there is something wrong,” Mutasa said. It is not clear who he was referring to as vakuru (seniors) or vaduku (juniors), but Mutasa has been known for shooting his own foot of late as this is currently purely a legal matter, though the ugly hand of President Robert Mugabe’s succession seems to be hovering around.
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