Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The opposition ZAPU party has demanded that Zimbabweans living abroad should be allowed to vote as their remittances back home are helping to keep the country economically afloat.
ZAPU national organiser Ndodana Moyo told CITE that Section 67 of Zimbabwe’s constitution grants the right to vote to all Zimbabweans, including those living in the diaspora.
He said even those Zimbabweans living in South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia are not able to return home to vote due to their work circumstances. Said Moyo:
They have a right to choose which president they want to lead them. It is important to appreciate people in the diaspora, who are sending their remittances to this country.
When you go to Mukuru, Western Union, and other platforms daily, people queue there daily for money sent by relatives in the diaspora.
He argued that Zimbabweans abroad were equally paying taxes to the government via their remittances and should therefore be allowed to partake in civic processes. Moyo said:
The government wants their money but not their vote, how does it work? The Diaspora is a special component of Zimbabwe, which sends money to assist in the development of their families and Zimbabwe as a whole, so they deserve and should have a right to shape the course of this country.
Every Zimbabwean who wishes to vote and participate in the polls must do so including those in the diaspora.
Moyo said the Electoral Amendment Bill should not be about “trivial” issues such as whether people can use their driver’s license to vote or not, but on important issues such as the diaspora vote among others.
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