Chronicle Editor
Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
Most people who intend to register as voters in Kwekwe are failing to do so owing to long distances that they have to travel to the mobile registration centres.
In an interview, Kwekwe District Elections Officer Mr Assan Mkwananzi said the numbers have not been pleasing in the district despite numerous awareness campaigns having been conducted across the city.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) launched a mobile registration blitz on April 10 which is expected to run until April 30.
Although he could not give figures citing protocol, Mr Mkwananzi said since the commencement of the mobile exercise, the turnout has been below expectations.
“The turnout is not what we expected to be honest. For figures I will have to consult with my superiors but I can confirm that the figures have been below the expectations,” he said.
Mr Mkwananzi said some people, especially in the rural areas like Zhombe and Silobela, have to travel more than 70 kilometres for the registration exercise.
“We have people in some wards who travel long distances to access the mobile centre and this has contributed to the low figures that we have.
We have some wards in Silobela and Zhombe who have to travel long distances for registration and we assume that is one of the main challenges in the district,” he said.
He, however, said they are making arrangements that such people have access to register.
“I can give you Ward 5 under Silobela Constituency which stretches for more than 100 kilometres.
This has become a challenge since we have only one team in each ward.
But what we have done is to ensure that we have the team to start from one strategic centre of the ward before moving to the other centre so that everyone has access. In some wards, we have only one centre ,” he said.
Kwekwe has 53 wards and 5 constituencies and each ward has a team conducting the registration exercise.
Mr Mkwananzi said figures were better in urban wards given the accessibility of the centres.
“You find that it is easy to access the centres in urban wards unlike the rural ones due to transport logistics.
But we are doing all we can to ensure that everyone registers before the end of the second phase,” he said.
Mr Mkwananzi expressed optimism that the ongoing national mobile registration exercise by the Civil Registry Department will also improve the numbers.
“You would find that most of our rural folk do not have identification documents and this exercise will bring positive results and we are very hopeful,” he said.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter