Delimitation Report: Mudenda submits Parliament’s recommendations to Mnangagwa
Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda has handed over Parliament’s recommendations to the Delimitation Preliminary Report to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The Delimitation Preliminary Report received a thump-down from legislators across the political divide, with some accusing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of doing armchair analysis.
Speaking to the media at State House after handing over the report, Honourable Mudenda indicated that the President will gazette the final report that will come from ZEC in due course.
‘’I think as was indicated by His Excellency the President when he said he will pass on the report that we have handed over to him to the ZEC tomorrow so that the Constitutional process provided for in Section 161 is complied with that once they receive the report from Parliament they look at it and hopefully digest it accordingly.
‘’Then after they will produce a final report which they will hand over to His Excellency the President and there after 14 days of the handover His Excellency the President will gazette the final report in terms of the constitution,’’ he said.
Various stakeholders have expressed concern over the way ZEC ignored various provisions of the law in coming up with the report.
This resonates with what the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) had previously indicated during a Media Elections Academy on Electoral Processes.
Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) director Ellen Dingani said the history of delimitation in Zimbabwe gives a lot of people anxiety.
She highlighted that stakeholders have generally been ignored in the previous (2000, 2005, and 2008) delimitation exercises.
Zimbabwe has a bad experience with delimitation
Zimbabwe has had a very bad experience and history when it comes to the issue of delimitation.
For example, the 2000 delimitation exercise was conducted by the Delimitation Commission appointed by the President. It submitted its report just three weeks before the elections. The process was not inclusive, leading to a lack of trust in the process.
The 2005 delimitation exercise was conducted by the Delimitation Commission as well. The commission was accused of manipulating boundaries, and the report was contrary to the census report. The President appointed the Commission in September 2004 and within a month they had finished the work. And submitted the report to President. This delimitation process was completed long before the voters’ roll was completed.
In 2007, the Delimitation Commission was eventually abolished, and its functions were transferred to ZEC. ZEC conducted a delimitation exercise and finalised its report late thereby affecting the voter education process. There were reservations about the Report produced by ZEC, with accusations that it was a desktop document. It also did not consult the stakeholders.
The delimitation conducted by ZEC is the one that increased Parliamentary seats from 120 to 210. This is also the report that informed election boundaries in 2008 and 2018. This is despite the fact that things had changed on the ground.
Delimitation is currently important for the upcoming general elections as there are various areas that are malapportioned.
Malapportionment is a situation where the number of voters in the various electoral areas is substantially unequal.
According to Ian Goredema from ZESN, there are some areas that are over the malapportionment threshold.
‘’We currently have some constituencies that are 200% over the threshold. And others that are below the threshold of voting strengths.’’
Delimitation Report: Mudenda submits Parliament’s recommendations to Mnangagwa
