Zimbabwe has no money for elections

Zimbabwe has no money for elections

• Paul Themba Nyathi: Zimbabwe's expensive democracy

• Supreme Court confirms MDC short-changed

• Implications of Supreme Court judgment

• Justice Malaba's judgment in constitutional application

• Justice Ziyambi's judgment

• Tsvangirai challenge on Mugabe victory shot down

• AG says Chidyausiku bungled

• Supreme Court petitioned to rule on 2002 poll

• 150 000 people struck off voters' roll

By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE'S electoral democracy was called into doubt last night as it emerged that the country is failing to register new voters, and may be forced to postpone rural council elections due next month because of financial problems.

Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede told parliament this week that his office had no money for mobile registration of voters, national identity cards and birth certificates while foreign currency shortages had crippled passport production.

The country's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said it was frustrated at the delays in announcing the voting dates and opening of voters' roll for inspection.

"We are frustrated in the sense that we as a party would have liked to see the normal procedure being followed so that we prepare our own structures and responses," the party's elections director Paul Themba Nyathi said.

"Of course it doesn't surprise us because the wheels of governance have come off and the state is just unable to discharge one of its responsibilities. The fact that it seems unable to do so is an indication of a bigger malaise that has set in on the country's administrative structures."

Appearing before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs Tuesday, Mudede said "politicians should be concerned" about the financial crisis gripping his department.

Said Mudede: “We have not started the voter education exercise for this year because we do not have money. We do that every year and we could have started in August but there is no money.

"What this means is that a person who has attained 18 years cannot vote because he is not on the voters’ roll and this should be a concern to politicians."

Zimbabwe is in the throes of a serious economic crisis, marked by inflation of close to 1000% and lack of foreign currency due to dwindling exports and closure of international lines of credit.

President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party has traditionally won the rural council elections, largely because of his loyal rural support base and voter intimidation, according to his opponents.

Nyathi told SW Radio Africa: "Constitutionally by this time, the government must have made a proclamation regarding the date when the elections will be held and the people should already be preparing for voters' roll inspection, including of course things that have to do with preparing for nominations and so on.

"That hasn't happened. It hasn't happened largely because in our view the government must be having problems getting money to run the elections and one can't help speculating that problems within Zanu PF as a party might also be responsible for this failure to live up to what has been a tradition in the past 26 years."

Nyathi said although the government could still call an election for October, they were "working very close to the bone."

The MDC, seen as Mugabe's biggest electoral challenger in many years, has been riven by deep internal division forcing a split between senior leaders. One faction is now led by founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai, while the other is led by Arthur Mutambara, a former NASA scientist.

Nyathi, who joined Mutambara's group, insisted that participating in the elections was necessary to test the electoral process ahead of the presidential elections due in 2008.

Nyathi said: "To the extent that councillors are the ones being abused by Zanu PF in terms of food distribution, that they are closest to where local governance is supposed to be, they are still significant. But if you look at the bigger picture of governance, of course they are totally insignificant.

"What we seek to achieve, or what should be achieved in this country is a constitutional dispensation that places council elections in a broader democratic process.

"The importance of fielding candidates for us is (mainly because) they are a test of the electoral system in the country. We are therefore able to tell the rest of the world how flawed the Zimbabwean electoral system is if we have been in there and have first hand experience."

Early signs that the government was experiencing financial difficulties in mobilising funds to run the elections in the 1600 wards came when a requirement was passed for candidates running for election to pay $2 million (old currency) for "police vetting".

The MDC led protests at the requirement, fearing that Zanu PF wanted to elbow out opposition candidates from the race by "making democracy expensive".

Nyathi said: "When people are required to pay $2 million for vetting by the police when there are all these other costs to incur, it means democracy has become extremely expensive.

"But that is no reason for people to turn their backs on that kind of process because it gives Zanu PF an open hand. Zanu PF has to be harassed wherever possible, it has to be engaged wherever possible, it should be made to feel it can no longer have a free hand in Zimbabwe."
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