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The law grants citizens the right to choose their political leaders and for anyone to seek election to any office.
This, of course, is subject to a few conditions such as age, the state of one’s criminal record and so on. For one to register to vote, they must be a citizen of Zimbabwe, be 18 years of age and older, hold a valid identity document and have proof of residence.
These requirements are basically the same for one seeking nomination for election as councillor, MP or president. However, for one to stand as a presidential candidate, they must, in addition to the foregoing, be at least 40 years old and secure nomination by a prescribed number of people in the country’s 10 provinces.
Property qualification or educational qualifications, which were key factors for one to vote or to be voted for before Independence, do not count anymore. Thanks to universal suffrage that came about post-Independence, Zimbabweans have the luxury of electing their leaders or seeking such election.
However, this has presented its own set of challenges. Some people, with basically no political support other than from themselves and counting on the not-so-guaranteed support of their spouses and parents, have successfully got nominated as presidential candidates.
Mr Egypt Dzinemunhenzva who contested in successive presidential elections as leader of little known African National Party before he renamed his outfit Forces for the Liberation Organisation of Africa National Party, comes to mind. He, like many other leaders of minor parties, had it easy on nomination day, but found the going tough on election day.
Without unnecessarily and undemocratically judging aspirants out of election races, we argue that Mr Dzinemunhenzva and his ilk did not add any value to our democracy. Yes, they satiated their personal political egos having their names, mug shots and party symbols appearing on the same ballot paper with opponents of greater political significance but logistically, they posed headaches.
In last year’s presidential election for example, a record 23 candidates appeared on the ballot paper, President Mnangagwa sharing space with the likes of Melbah Dzepasi of the #1980 Freedom Movement Zimbabwe, Violet Mariyacha of the United Democracy Movement and Timothy Chiguvare of the People’s Progressive Party who got 1 899, 1 673 and 1 549 respectively, zero percent of the vote. To accommodate the 23 candidates, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had to design a ballot paper packed with mug shots and symbols. Voters had to put in considerable effort to identify candidates of their choice.
The Government is coming up with a mechanism to prevent such logistical challenges. If proposals unveiled by Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi at the weekend are approved, those who wish to stand in the presidential contest will, from the 2023 election, have to put in more effort and money to appear on the ballot paper.
They will have to be nominated by at least 1 000 registered voters from the country’s 10 provinces and fork out more than the current $1 000 nomination fee.
“We are also looking at provisions that deal with nomination fees for Presidential candidates and that of people who nominate the President with a view of increasing them from 100 to maybe 1 000,” Minister Ziyambi told our sister paper The Sunday Mail.
“We want to revise the fees to make sure that they are reasonable. As you saw, (in) the last election we had the largest pool of candidates in the history of the country. While we want to encourage participation, we also want to make sure that only serious candidates find their names on the ballot.”
While every citizen has political rights, we are of the view that some among us have sought to enjoy them in a not-so-serious manner knowing fully well that they have absolutely no chance of actually making an impact, let alone winning the election.
Zimbabweans are serious people who deserve serious leaders, not chancers. Serious people must emerge at the nomination court hence our support for the minister’s announcement.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) agrees with us, and the minister.
“Increasing the number of signatures required to register one as a candidate is meant to avoid a situation where we have people trying their luck at a cost to the elections management body,” said ZESN chairperson Mr Andrew Makoni.
“Organising an election is a very expensive exercise, so if we have a situation where someone just gathers a 100 signatures and a small amount of money, but have no following at all, becomes a very huge cost to the elections management body. So I think the idea is to ensure that only serious candidates with constituencies behind them are able to participate and do away with chancers.”
Surely someone who aspires to be president of Zimbabwe must demonstrate support across the country, thus must be able to secure 1 000 signatures in the country’s 10 provinces. Additionally, they must have enough supporters who can contribute small sums of money towards a higher nomination fee than the $1 000 they had to pay last year. E
Online Reporter