Delimitation Report: Warren Park Constituency should be restored says Hamauswa
Warren Park legislator Shakespear Hamauswa has called on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to restore his constituency which is going to its 2018 status.
ZEC through the Delimitation Preliminary Report is proposing to collapse the constitution for the 2023 general elections.
However, Honourable Hamauswa is of the view that collapsing the constituency will go against the law as it has the required number of votes.
Under delimitation wards and constituencies are supposed to have equal voting strength with an allowable 20% variance.
Hamauswa told the National Assembly that he is surprised that his constituency is being collapsed despite having about 38 000 voters.
Below is the full text of what Honourable Hamauswa said in the National Assembly.
HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to begin by appreciating the role that was done by the Ad hoc Committee in analysing the report. They have done a good job in giving us, as Hon. Members, a framework on how to make our recommendations to the ZEC report. My first recommendation is drawn from the Ad hoc Committee Report, item number 4.1.1.3, paragraph c, which raised a principle that when ZEC was collapsing constituencies, it was supposed to collapse constituencies with lower votes, moving them to constituencies with high numbers of registered voters.
I want to refer specifically to Warren Park Constituency. Warren Park Constituency Mr. Speaker Sir, according to the 2018 registered voters, it had 32 186 votes but it is surprising that this constituency was collapsed. It is a deviation from the principle that was raised by the Ad hoc Committee and also which is stated in the report that ZEC also highlighted that they were following that principle, whereby constituencies with high votes were supposed to stand. In this case, one of the wards from Warren Park Constituency, Ward 5 which had 16 095 votes was moved to Harare Central, whilst Ward 15 which had 17 774 votes was combined with Ward 6 of Kambuzuma and it was named Mufakose, which is something that needs to be corrected. My recommendation is that Warren Park Constituency should also be added into the annexure of the Ad hoc Committee Report where they indicated that there are specific situations which need to be corrected.
I also want to refer to another principle raised in the Ad hoc Committee Report item 4.1.1.4, paragraph a, which talks of community of interest. Mr. Speaker Sir, if you check on Warren Park Constituency in reference to the community of interest, you will realise that the constituency, because of the developments such as the establishment of the museum, it was declared a liberation city. Therefore Mr. Speaker Sir, such a liberation city cannot be a city before it is a constituency. Therefore, I recommend that the constituency should revert back to the 2018 status, considering that it got the fundamental features which also include the Heroes Acre, the Provincial Heroes Acre and the Museum. We cannot fight historical legacies that are actually contained in that constituency. Mr. Speaker Sir, this is my recommendation that those principles should apply as also highlighted by the Ad hoc Committee report which cited Section 9 of the Constitution, which said the Commission, when they are doing their work, should apply the principles of fairness, justice, good governance and honesty. There must also be consistency in the application of those principles Mr. Speaker Sir.
I also want to add my voice to the need for the census report and also to the need for the voters roll. It is actually difficult Mr. Speaker Sir, to recommend the passing of this report without really considering the voters roll. The voters roll is very important and also the census report. I add my comment on Warren Park Constituency by also looking at the geographical situations. If you look at the current Warren Park Constituency, there is a linear distribution of the communities – something which is fundamentally changed by the proposed delimitation. If you check Warren Park Constituency, it starts from Rotten Row and ends at Kuwadzana roundabout, which is something that is very easy to administer. It is different Mr. Speaker Sir, from a situation which we now have whereby we have Ward 15 and you have to navigate all the way to Mufakose. It is something that will complicate service delivery issues.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it will not be good also if I do not mention the issue whereby residents in one ward will have to seek administrative services from different district offices. For example, currently in Warren Park Ward 15, you will find people from Warren Park 1 have to pay their bills at Warren Park 1 District Office, yet those in Westlea have to go to Mabelreign. So, when you consider other principles of devolution and the principle of the devolution fund, in City of Harare, they have a policy of 25% retention fund, it will be difficult now to share the 25% retention fund where different people in the same ward have to pay in different offices. This also applies even in the distribution of the CDF fund. I recommend Mr. Speaker Sir that I will be happy and people of Warren Park Constituency will also be happy to see Warren Park Constituency added in the annexure of the critical or specific areas which need to be corrected. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
Delimitation Report: Warren Park Constituency should be restored says Hamauswa
