By-elections: Will elected officials have enough time?

Leroy Dzenga

IN six days’ time, Zimbabwe will hold by-elections to fill vacant National Assembly and municipal seats.

The much-anticipated polls have seen politicians traversing the length and breadth of the country canvassing for support.

Twenty-eight (28) National Assembly and 119 council seats are up for grabs.

They became vacant as a result of infighting in the opposition, deaths and re-assignments.

Under normal circumstances, the Electoral Act requires the proclamation for by-elections within 14 days of the position being vacant.

However, Zimbabwe was forced to suspended electoral activities in March 2020 in the interest of public health owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Authorities have since given the all-clear for by-elections to proceed after a successful vaccination drive and notable success in taming resurgent infections.

The by-elections will now be held on Saturday. With the country set to hold harmonised elections next year, there have been questions on why authorities did not elect to forgo the exercise. Elections do not come cheap.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in December said they needed around $1 billion for the by-elections.

However, Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda told The Sunday Mail that there is no room for expediency on matters governed by the law.

“Whether they (the parliamentarians) make an impact or not does not matter. What matters is that the law says by-elections will not be held only when left with nine months to the general election,” said Mr Chokuda.

The last general election was held on July 31, 2018.

“The conclusion, whether right or wrong, one can make then is that the Legislature in passing the law viewed it as sufficient time to make an impact. Democracy is expensive and we have to abide with what our law compels us to do,” he said.

It is a view that is also shared by Southern Africa Parliamentary Support Trust deputy director and spokesperson Mr Israel Chilimanzi, who said time is not the only factor that affects parliamentary work.

“It is a constitutional requirement that each constituency should have an MP (Member of Parliament).

‘‘The performance or impact of an MP is determined by many factors other than just the time he has to serve. It is, however, desirable that vacancies be filled as early as circumstances permit.”

Time alone, he said, is immaterial.

“Factors such as educational attainment, previous experience and areas of expertise, passion for a particular subject can all affect the performance of a legislator. What I mean is there can be MPs who have served for long but achieved very little and vice-versa. We should not hold off conducting by-elections because general elections are around the corner,” added Mr Chilimanzi.

“The bigger question is how do you measure the effectiveness or otherwise of an MP: the level and quality of debate? Contribution during committee deliberations? Bringing forward constituency concerns?”

ZEC spokesperson Commissioner Joyce Kazembe said proclamation of election dates falls outside their mandate.

“We are there to carry out orders as ZEC. Once the proclamation is done our role is to ensure the smooth running of elections. There is a law that guides us and ZEC`s mandate is to hold elections. The power to proclaim lies with the President. What we do is make recommendations and that is as far as we can go,” she said.

One of the March 26 candidates, Cde Zalerah Makari of ZANU PF, who incidentally became a MP through a by-election in September 2015, said a year is enough for a focused legislator to make an impact.

“The timeframe between now and the general election is about a year. People still need representation in the August House. We could not have the elections earlier because of Covid-19 but now that conditions allow, the law says people have to be represented.

“I was voted in through by-election when I succeeded the late Ambassador Amos Midzi in Epworth Constituency. I do intend to stand in the general election, too. It is something I am passionate about to serve and give back to my people in whatever capacity that avails itself.”