By Takudzwa Changadeya
The Zimbabwe Election Advocacy Trust (Zeat), has scoffed at all Zimbabwean political parties’ failure to mobilise potential voters to register to vote as Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) appeals to unregistered voters to utilise final voter registration blitz set to commence next week, NewsDay reports.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has set March 11 to 21 as the dates for the final voter registration blitz.
This follows after only around 900 000 new voters registered in previous blitzes, therefore the electoral watchdog encourages unregistered voters, particularly youths, to get registered and participate in the forthcoming elections.
ZEAT said the country’s political parties are guilty of their failure to mobilise potential voters to register to participate in the 2023 polls.
“We are worried by the state of preparedness of political parties judging from what we witnessed during the previous blitzes. Actually, all the parties are not serious. We want to applaud Zec for upholding the Constitution by organising another blitz after delimitation. However, it should increase its awareness.” ZEAT director Ignatius Sadziwa said.
The upcoming blitz would be the last chance for young people in Zimbabwe to register to vote, according to the electoral watchdog.
Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) chairperson Andrew Makoni encouraged all young people to participating in choosing leaders of their country through voting saying: “Leaving it to others to determine your future is like trusting others with the choice of your future wife or husband. You will be stuck with what we choose for you for life.”
Citizens Coalition for Change youth taskforce spokesperson Stephen Chuma said: “We are ready for the blitz and indeed it is the last opportunity for more youths to register as voters. We have been running voter mobilisation campaigns under the Register, Elect and Protect (REAP) campaign and we have thousands of youths willing to register. We have compiled data for those willing to register and we have teams in every street and village that will drive voter mobilisation during the blitz.”
Zanu PF information director Tafadzwa Mugwadi said they were ready to defeat the opposition.
“We have completed our final cell verification programme nationwide to ensure that our primary candidate selection process happens smoothly. For the opposition, it’s a different story. The cloud of defeat is hovering on their heads. There is nothing for them to harvest because they have nothing to give to the people,” he declared.
Project Vote 263 director Allan Chipoyi said this final blitz is the last opportunity that young people must utilise and encourage their peers to register.
