Harare (New Ziana) – The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has discouraged stakeholders from spreading unverified information regarding electoral management issues, highlighting that this had the effect of misleading the electorate.
This follows a spate of accusations, particularly from the opposition MDC party and its sympathizers, that ZEC was refusing to conduct by-elections when in fact it was following Covid-19 laws enacted by the government.
The government has suspended the holding of by-elections as part of its Covid-19 containment measures.
These measures, including a widely acclaimed vaccination program, have seen Zimbabwe fairly managing the pandemic.
ZEC explained that its sole responsibility was managing elections as and when they are proclaimed.
It said it was the prerogative of the President to proclaim the date of by elections in consultation with ZEC on its state of administrative preparedness.
“ZEC encourages stakeholders, in the spirit of cooperation, to discourage misinformation in the electoral management sphere and to crosscheck facts where confusion or uncertainty arises by giving each side the right to reply before publishing stories that discourage voters, ” ZEC said.
“It is a fact that there is no confusion on the part of ZEC as to what its mandate is in terms of when or how to conduct by elections. The mandate of ZEC includes conducting elections and referendums in accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe. It is important to note that ZEC does not make or set aside these laws, it merely implements and is bound by existing legislation until it is set aside by lawmakers. ”
ZEC said it was aware of a court case mounted to challenge the validity of the postponement of the by-elections.
“It is a fact that there is a statutory instrument which has suspended the holding of by elections indefinately and it is a fact that the Constitutionality of this statutory instrument has been challenged at the High Court and the matter is pending,” said ZEC.
New Ziana