Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa, has complained over the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and Registrar General’s office’s failure to register new voters especially the youths.
Addressing journalists during a press conference in Harare on Wednesday, MDC Alliance Secretary for elections Ian Makone said their party was piling pressure on ZEC and Register General’s office to register new voters. Said Makone:
The existing facilities are underutilised and it is a clear admission that there is no system that is responsive to the reality on the ground, and these are the issues we are highlighting.
We are, therefore, proposing that all of us put sufficient pressure on ZEC to do what they are capable of doing by the law and we wonder why they are not doing it.
In 2017, when the BVR (Biometric Voter Registration) was introduced we had enough registration kits.
Those kits are now gathering dust and it is a shame that we collectively allow that kind of thing to continue.
Makone called on both ZEC and the registrar’s offices to decentralise their operations in order to enable citizens to acquire identification documents and register to vote.
Party spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere added the MDC Alliance’s focus was assisting the youths to register to vote. She said:
Our clear message for the young is to register to vote. Once you register to vote, the kind of change we promise is change that actually services your needs.
