ZEC set to review last year’s polls

via ZEC set to review last year’s polls | The Herald 3 December 2014

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has hired an election consultant to help review last year’s harmonised elections and prepare for the 2018 polls. The consultant — Mr Rushdie Nackerdien — yesterday presented a report to ZEC and political parties assessing previous polls.

Mr Nackerdien compiled a report titled the “Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s Needs Gaps — The Road to 2018”.

Speaking at the ceremony, ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau said it was time to review past performances and to prepare for 2018.

“The view that elections come and go holds sway with many still. As an elections management body, it is my view that we have not yet done enough to introduce and explain the concept of the electoral cycle to the majority of our stakeholders, to policy makers and especially to those that hold the national purse strings they still ask and wonder what we do in between election dates,” she said.

Justice Makarau said elections were cyclical not only in their management but also in their delivery.

She said the commission had never stopped preparing for the 2018 elections.

Justice Makarau said the commission learnt valuable lessons from last year’s elections.

She said with the assistance of various stakeholders the commission identified ‘pot holes’ encountered along the way and those that must be covered before 2018.

“As we set out towards 2018, with the very able assistance of Rushdie Nackerdien an elections guru as our consultant and with generous financial assistance from the Royal Danish Embassy office in Harare, we have assessed our needs and relative strength for the journey ahead and have compiled a report on these,” she said.

Secretary for Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mrs Virginia Mabhiza said democratic governance and sustainable development required credible elections in which citizens exercise their right to vote freely.

“For elections to be truly credible, transparent and peaceful, the institution that is vested with the mandate to conduct them must be independent, professional and efficient,” she said.