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

Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called on Zimbabweans to demand free and fair elections next year because the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front is already working on rigging the elections.

He said in a statement that ZANU-PF has already hijacked the Biometric Voter Registration exercise which was aimed at preventing voter fraud by taking it away from the United Nations as had been agreed.

“Given our history of stolen elections, everyone was confident with the process in which the United Nations was involved (in the biometric voter registration exercise) through the UNDP,” Tsvangirai said.

“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.”

Tsvangirai said he had received disturbing reports about what the government is doing to subvert the will of the people in the next elections.

“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,” he said.

Tsvangirai said Nikuv and some Indian companies would hack or engage 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,” he said.

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