Bid to register twice backfires for ex-MP

Walter Nyamukondiwa Chinhoyi Bureau
Former Kwekwe-Mbizo Member of the House of Assembly Settlement Chikwinya was exposed recently for trying to register twice under the ongoing Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) process.

Chikwinya, a former member of the opposition party MDC-T visited Kadoma district registration offices on September 25 intending to register under Ward 9 in Mbizo constituency, Kwekwe district.

However, he failed to produce proof of residence in the said area, which prompted him to fill an affidavit, which was confirmed by the district elections officer. Provincial election officer Mr Austin Ndlovu confirmed the incident saying the BVR process was full proof.

“Yes we have an incident, which occurred in Kadoma on September 25, where an applicant Settlement Chikwinya wanted to register as a voter. He was asked to produce proof of residence, but he had none. He was then asked to fill an affidavit, which was commissioned by our district elections officer for Kadoma,” said Mr Ndlovu.

However, things came to a head when his given address was entered into the BVR kit and it could not be accepted. This prompted officers to contact Kwekwe District where it was established that he had already registered in Kwekwe.

“He then told the officers that indeed he had registered in Kwekwe, but he wanted to see if the system was watertight,” he said.

Mr Ndlovu said after the voter registration exercise, a de-registration exercise would be conducted to sniff out any instances of double registration.

“As a Commission we would like to say the BVR registration exercise is watertight and after completion of the process when we finally have a new voters roll, there will a deregistration process that will clean out any instances of double registration,” said Mr Ndlovu.