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

As MDC, together with our colleagues in the NERA and others in the broader democratic movement, we will continue to demand from ZEC that it takes urgent steps to chlorinate the electoral process and restore national confidence.

Our demands include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. A credible voters’ roll

A credible voters’ roll is mandatory and if there is continued dithering and subversion of the biometric voter registration process, then we can ensure that prospective voters simply produce their IDs, as happened in the election of 1980.

2. Civil servants and traditional leaders to stick to their constitutional roles

There is need to redefine the role of bureaucrats and other civil servants during elections in line with the dictates of the Constitution. Those whose roles should be aligned include the police, the army and intelligence services some of whom have been stuffed into the ZEC secretariat. Apart from civil servants, it is important to re-emphasize the apolitical role of chiefs and headmen as defined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. I heard sad stories from the chiefs themselves of how they are being politicized, including making them chairpersons of the Zanu PF cell structure to make them frog-march people to influence the vote at rural polling stations.

3. Stern action on vote-buying

Vote-buying by any means should be made a serious, punishable offence. We have seen key government actors associated with Zanu PF overtly buying votes with rice and ZIMRA-confiscated items, among other vote-buying gimmicks. We saw these antics in Norton and Bikita West, as well as in Buhera where ZIMRA goods were donated at the same time when the nation was being threatened with a corpse as a Presidential candidate.  Apart from being a punishable offence, vote-buying should be a basis for disqualification, even before the election is held.

4. Chlorinating the ZEC secretariat

There is urgent need to chlorinate the ZEC secretariat for it to be truly professional. The ZEC secretariat should be de-militarized and de-securotized as it is now common cause that it is heavily stuffed with members of the army, the police and the CIO. This is a key issue and even the 10 provincial officers of ZEC must be professional and must inspire confidence in all the political players.

5. Guaranteed access to the public media by all parties.

This is now a requirement in the Constitution, even where there are no elections. Media reforms remain a key electoral matter that continues to suffer from non-implementation, even where the Constitution is clear and unequivocal as stipulated in section 61 of the supreme law of the land.

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