Story by Bruce Chahwanda, Political Editor
THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission says six million people have registered to vote in this year’s general elections while the Zimbabwe Republic Police has confirmed that measures have been put in place to ensure a smooth and peaceful process.
The pre-election assessment being conducted by the SADC Electoral Advisory Council is meant to give an insight into the bloc on the country’s preparedness for general elections.
The second day of the visit saw the Advisory Council engaging the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, where it emerged that six million voters have so far registered to vote in the 2023 general elections.
“The last census shows that there are 15.9 million people and 6 million is the number of registered voters. Our target was to register many voters, hence carrying out a blitz. We keep on encouraging political parties to observe peace at all times,” said Ambassador Rodney Kiwa, ZEC’s Deputy Chairman.
At the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the delegation was notified of the measures that have been put in place to ensure a peaceful, fair, and credible election.
“To ensure that the 2023 general elections are conducted in a conducive environment for the holding of free, fair, transparent, credible and peaceful elections that conform with the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democrat Elections, the Zimbabwe Republic Police is currently conducting awareness campaigns, training of officers, deployments, a steering committee to oversee elections has been set up,” said ZRP Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga.
The Chairperson of the SADC Electoral Advisory Council Justice Ticheme Dlamini from Eswatini said the exercise is meant to collect information on Zimbabwe’s state of preparedness ahead of the general elections.
“We are compiling information to come up with a comprehensive report, and this will be done at the end of the mission next week. Generally, we had fruitful meetings,” he said.
Zimbabwe is set to hold general elections in either July or August this year to choose the president, legislators, and councillors.
