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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has gazetted the final delimitation report, which will demarcate constituency and ward boundaries in the 2023 harmonised elections.
Matabeleland South became a victim of voter registration apathy after Bulilima East and West constituencies were collapsed to create Bulilima constituency.
The province failed to maintain the 13 constituencies it was allocated during the last delimitation exercise in 2007/8 due to the low numbers of registered voters. As per the end of the voter registration exercise on May 30 last year, there were 267 617 people registered to vote which, according to Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, led to the collapse of Bulilima East constituency held by the Zanu-PF provincial chairperson Cde Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu, who is also the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
Deputy Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Dingumuzi Phuthi is the Bulilima West Legislator.
Political commentator Mr Dumisani Nkomo said while losing a constituency is of concern, more shocking was the stark reality that more could have been lost had it not been for the 20 percent variance delimitation principle.
“While these are of concern the region generally had the lowest number of registered voters and could have lost between five to six seats. However, the 20 percent variance principle in delimitation was helpful in ensuring that Mat South lost one and not two seats as per the delimitation formula. The region gained the most from the delimitation process though caution needs to be exercised in viewing the new ward and constituency boundaries,” said Mr Nkomo.
Bulawayo and Matabeleland North provinces maintained the same number of constituencies of 12 and 13 respectively.
However, Bulawayo had seven constituencies being reconfigured and renamed as Bulawayo North, Cowdray Park, Emakhandeni-Luveve, Entumbane-Njube, Lobengula-Magwegwe, Mpopoma-Mzilikazi and Pelandaba-Tshabalala.
Bulawayo had 270 938 registered voters as of May 30, 2022, which was 42 521 less than the 2007/8.
The country’s constitution compels the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to conduct a delimitation exercise every 10 years.
President promulgated Statutory Instrument 14 of 2023 in line with section 161 (1) of the Constitution.
“This report presents the wards and constituencies that were delimited by the Commission in 2022. The wards and constituencies are presented by province, each chapter highlighting the number of constituencies that have been delimited for the province and the names thereof, the number of wards that have been delimited for each local authority in the province and the boundary descriptions for the respective constituencies and wards,” reads part of the introductory report to President Mnangagwa by the ZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba.
The last delimitation was conducted in 2007/8 and resulted in the drawing of 210 House of Assembly Constituencies, 60 Senatorial Constituencies and 1 958 local authority wards. There is no change in the number of constituencies and wards after the latest delimitation exercise.
The delimited electoral boundaries remained in use during the 2008, 2013, and 2018 harmonised elections. However, due to population dynamics and changes in land use since the last delimitation exercise, there has been a growing need for constituencies and wards to be redrawn to respond to the changes.
Justice Chigumba said in conducting the delimitation exercise her Commission was guided by the provisions of Section 161 of the Constitution in conducting delimitation. She said subsections (3) and (4) of Section 161 specify that the boundaries of constituencies and wards must be such that, so far as possible, at the time of delimitation, equal numbers of voters are registered in each constituency within Zimbabwe and in each ward of the local authority concerned.
“However, the Commission is allowed to depart from this general principle in Section 161(6) although it is to ensure that no constituency or ward may have 20 percent more or fewer registered voters than the other such constituencies or wards. Secondly the straddling of ward boundaries is not allowed in delimiting electoral boundaries. Section 161(5) of the Constitution states that the Commission must ensure that no ward is divided between two or more local authority areas. The Commission must also ensure that no ward is divided between two or more constituencies,” said Justice Chigumba.
The report states that Section 161(6) of the Constitution further states that due consideration be given to physical features, the means of communication within an area, the geographical distribution of registered voters, any community of interest between registered voters, existing electoral boundaries, and population.
“Delimitation seeks to ensure equality of voting strength and the key determinant considered for the realisation of this objective is the number of registered voters. To ensure potential voters were afforded the opportunity to register, the Commission embarked on two phases of mobile voter registration. The first and second phases of mobile voter registration were conducted in February and April 2022, respectively. The voters’ roll for delimitation closed on 30 May 2022 and as of that date, the country had 5 804 376 registered voters compared to 5 612 464 registered voters in 2007/8,” said Justice Chigumba.
The report noted that the Constitution in s160(1) stipulates that the ZEC must divide Zimbabwe into 210 constituencies for the purposes of electing members of Parliament and to achieve this, the total number of registered voters in the country was divided by 210 constituencies, yielding a national average of 27 640 registered voters per constituency. The figure obtained satisfies s161(3) of the Constitution which states that “The boundaries of constituencies must be such that, so far as possible, at the time of delimitation equal numbers of voters are registered in each constituency within Zimbabwe”. From a practical point, it is not possible to have an equal number of registered voters in each constituency since the population is not uniformly distributed across the country.
Justice Chigumba said the Constitution recognises the impracticability of having an equal number of voters in each constituency by allowing the Commission to depart from this requirement within a stipulated margin. In this case, the Constitution in s161(6) stipulates that ….”no constituency may have more than 20 percent more or fewer registered voters than other such constituencies”.
Justice Chigumba said there were generally no voters that were moved from their polling stations and registered voters in each ward and constituency will vote at their usual polling stations although their ward number or name of a constituency may have changed. — @skhumoyo2000.
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