Tsvangirai urges Zimbabweans to demand free and fair elections as ZANU-PF is already rigging the process

1.  The brazen attempt to steal the next election

A fortnight ago, the nation was startled to hear that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, a supposedly independent Commission, had allowed the Zanu PF government to hijack the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise, in the process casting fresh doubts on the prospect for a free, fair and credible election in 2018.

Given our history of stolen elections, everyone was confident with the process in which the United Nations was involved through the UNDP.

Elections are about confidence and credibility and the involvement of the respected world body had given everyone reason to believe in the freeness, fairness and credibility of the process leading to the 2018 elections.

The government, as currently composed, constitutes of one political party. It is pertinent to note that when a government so-constituted hijacks an important process, it means simply that Zanu PF, an interested party, has unilaterally taken over the work of an independent Commission ahead of a watershed poll. This should be cause for national alarm, given how Zanu PF has in the past used violence and dubious companies such as Nikuv International Projects to steal the people’s vote.

No political party that should be allowed to unilaterally superintend an electoral process as that can only imperil or endanger the people’s will.

We are hearing more disturbing reports about what this government is doing to subvert the will of the people in the next election.For instance, we are aware of teams that have been working and training under the tutelage of a spy agency of a country that shall remain nameless for now. There is also a ploy to have NIKUV International Projects get registered under surrogate names in an attempt to enable the company to win the tender to supply the BVR kits.

If Zimbabwe proceeds to use the BVR system, which Zanu PF is not keen to do, we are also aware of plans to have Nikuv International Projects work with some named Indian companies in hacking or engaging in cyber attacks on the whole electoral system once it becomes clear that the results are not going in Zanu PF’s favour.

We are aware therefore that plans are afoot to either control or derail the BVR process, frustrate voter registration and the actual voting in perceived opposition strongholds. We know as well that there are plans to tamper with silver nitrate and other inks such as UV ink that may be used in order to fudge the result of the next election.

As a party, together with our colleagues in the broader democratic movement, we take great umbrage at the brazen hostile take-over of the electoral process by a political party when such work is solely reposed in an independent Commission. The party’s national executive has just met and I wish to restate its resolution that as a party, we will utilize all legitimate and constitutionally permissible avenues at our disposal to stop this daylight theft. Whether in the courts or in the streets, we shall fight all attempts to steal the next election and we fully endorse the resolution that we took with others under the banner of NERA to mobilize Zimbabweans for a public protest on the 22nd of March!

Indeed, come hail come high water, we will do all we can to stem the subversion of the people’s will.

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