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countrywide yesterday ahead of harmonised elections expected before June 29, although the turnout was low in some areas.
Provincial registrars faced logistical problems that saw them deploying fewer teams, but promised to deploy more from today for the programme that ends on May 19.
Said Home Affairs Co-Minister Kembo Mohadi: “We have started the national mobile voter registration exercise to reach out to communities in remote areas which are difficult to access and we have rolled it out across the country.
“In fact, we decided to introduce the programme as a way of trying to mop up people who did not have a chance to visit sub-offices and district registration centres to register to vote in the harmonised elections.”
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Harare provincial registrar Mr Simon Muchemenye
Minister Mohadi said an accurate assessment of the progress of the exercise would be made by Friday.
“It is only then that we will be able to say we have faced some bottlenecks here and there, but we believe with adequate resources we should be able to carry out the exercise.
“There are no adequate resources at the moment.
“This should have started a long time ago, but bickering over resources delayed the exercise.”
Minister Mohadi said the US$8 million released by Treasury was not enough for the exercise.
Political parties said yesterday that they had started mobilising their members to visit the registration centres.
“We are already mobilising our members to go and register to vote, while the RG’s office does the rest of the work,” said Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo.
“We want as many people as possible to vote because this is the only way for their voices to be heard. The mobile voter registration will go a long way in increasing the number of people that are going to vote in the coming elections and we will give the RG’s office all the necessary support.”
MDC spokesperson Mr Nhlanhla Dube said: “It has always been MDC’s desire that all illegible Zimbabweans are given an equal opportunity to register to vote for the elections.
“As MDC, we have commenced, through our various structures, a process of informing those who are 18 and above to be ready to take advantage of the mobile voter registration exercise.
“It is our hope that the programme will be structured in a way that adequately covers all of Zimbabwe, particularly the rural areas, where people have difficulty in accessing voter registration points.”
MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora said there was need to release more information about the exercise.
“We are mobilising everyone to go and register to vote, but there is not enough information as to where people are registering, that is places and dates,” he said.
“We have been looking for that information, but to no avail. We did inquire, but were told that the information was not yet available.”
In Harare registration, started on a low note with only two teams out of four deployed, with the other two teams not on the ground because of some logistical delays.
At Mai Musodzi Hall in Mbare where registration started in earnest at 7am, hundreds of people turned up by mid-morning, while at the Aquatic Complex in Chitungwiza the team was already on the ground.
Harare provincial registrar Mr Simon Muchemenye said they expected to have all the teams on the ground in due course.
Several people who spoke to The Herald at Mai Musodzi Hall expressed satisfaction with the registration process.
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People were being issued with paper identification documents, inspecting the voters roll and registering as voters.
In Bulawayo, people were trickling to the Registrar General’s Office with an official from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission confirming that more registration points would be opened up for the exercise.
In Matabeleland South, provincial registrar Mr Jabulani Mbambo said teams were deployed throughout the province, with each district having one mobile team.
“We started the exercise today at 7am and the programme goes up to 7pm,” he said. “Seven teams are operating throughout the province.”
In the Midlands, provincial registrar Ms Agnes Gambura was yet to receive district reports by mid-day.
“What I know is that we have started the voter registration exercise in all the districts, but I cannot comment on the turnout because I am still to receive district reports,” she said.
Midlands has eight administrative districts namely Gweru, Kwekwe, Gokwe North, Gokwe South, Shurugwi, Zvishavane, Mberengwa and Chirumanzu.
In Masvingo, voter registration started in all the seven districts with at least a team deployed in Chiredzi, Mwenezi, Bikita, Chivi, Gutu, Zaka and Masvingo Rural.
The number of teams was expected to increase as the programme intensifies in the coming few days.
But the exercise did not take place in Masvingo city by end of day yesterday as the team responsible was deployed at Nemanwa Growth Point, about 20 kilometres outside the city centre.
Masvingo provincial registrar Ms Sithembeni Chitsa could not disclose progress made in the mobile voter registration so far, as she directed questions to Harare.
In Mashonaland West, deployment of registration teams to district centres started smoothly on Sunday, while the registration started without any hitches yesterday.
But the exercise was characterised by low turnout.
Provincial registrar Mr Wilbert Chirenda said information from the districts on how the registration had gone for the first day would only start trickling in today.
In Manicaland, the voter registration started without any hitches in the province’s seven districts.
Provincial registrar Ms Joyce Munamati said everything went according to plan and they were expecting people to come in their numbers for the exercise.
“I am happy to announce that everything is going on according to our plans. There were no hitches reported from the reports we have received so far,” she said.
“We hope everything will continue working out according to plan until we finish this crucial exercise.”
The situation was the same in Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East and Matabeleland North provinces where some teams were deployed to various districts for theexercise.
Online Reporter