Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party led by Nelson Chamisa has reportedly threatened to file a court application against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for allegedly undermining the biometric voters’ registration exercise.
The Zimbabwe MDC’s secretary general Douglas Mwonzora said that the party has found inconsistencies in the voters’ registration procedure, adding that ZEC officials deliberately “slowed down the on-going exercise as part of a plot to disenfranchise mostly urban voters”.
“They are registering 100 people a day and turning away other people, who would have come to register. This is a go-slow, which will result in potential voters being disenfranchised, in the same manner that over 700 000 voters were closed out in 2008. We cannot have this and we will be taking them to court,” Mwonzora was quoted as saying.
In a tweet on Monday,MDC’s secretary general Douglas Mwonzora expressed his view on the matter, saying that it was “totally unacceptable” to deny people from registering to vote.
The manner in which the ZEC operated would have consequences for MDC votes as urban areas were generally considered as the party’s strongholds.
MDC lawyer Denford Halimani said that he was already working on an application, which he expected to file at the High Court in the near future.
“We intend to file an application at the High Court seeking an order to compel ZEC to do its work in accordance with the law. The law says if anyone appears at a registration centre during normal working hours, he or she must be registered,” Halimani was quoted as saying.
