Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
A JOINT inter-agency transition to transfer voter registration and voters’ roll management from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission back to the Office of the Registrar-General has begun, with officials saying the process will be completed this month.
This follows President Mnangagwa’s assent to Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Bill in July, which returned the voter registration mandate to the Civil Registry and established an independent Delimitation Commission.
ZEC has managed the voters’ roll since 2013. Leadership teams from both electoral bodies met in Harare yesterday to operationalise the administrative handover, bringing together Provincial Electoral Officers, Provincial Registrars, District Electoral Officers, and District Registrars to align decentralised operations across all administrative tiers.
Speaking at the joint engagement, Registrar-General Mr Henry Machiri said the operational transition commenced immediately after the legislation was signed into law, targeting completion by the end of August.
“Our structure runs from the national level down to sub-office level, so this transfer is not limited to head office only,” Mr Machiri said.
“The purpose of bringing our teams together is to get everyone to work as one team. It is not just about transferring equipment, but also transferring the mindset of our people so that they understand what they are supposed to do when we take over.”
Mr Machiri reassured the public that the Civil Registry Department possesses the requisite technical capacity, systems and expertise to manage the voters’ roll, having executed the role before 2013.
ZEC chief elections officer Mr Simbarashe Tongayi said the transition involves physical assets, network infrastructure and human capital through a Whole-of-Government approach.
“The transfer involves equipment and infrastructure related to voter registration, including Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits and related network infrastructure,” Mr Tongayi said.
“We are ensuring that not only equipment is transferred, but also the expertise and experience from ZEC. We will have attachments and secondments to ensure there is no gap.”
Mr Tongayi added that ongoing public exercises, such as Continuous Voter Registration, will continue seamlessly alongside joint electoral planning.
Under the updated framework, the Civil Registry Department will also participate directly in Multi-Party Liaison Committees to address stakeholder matters regarding voter registration.
The operational synergy between the two institutions is already underway ahead of three municipal by-elections scheduled for Ward 1 in Bulawayo, Ward 18 in Hwange, and Ward 3 in Victoria Falls.
Deputy Chief Secretary for Finance, Administration, and Human Resources in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), Mr Zvinechimwe Churu said consolidating voter registration into the national civil registration system aligns Zimbabwe with international best practices.
“By integrating voter registration into the national civil registration framework, the nation establishes a reliable synergy between identity and the franchise of the citizen,” Mr Churu said in a speech read on his behalf by Mr Causemore Maringa, the Permanent Secretary for Public Sector Reforms and Performance Management in the Office of the President.
“This ensures that singular citizen data captured at the Registrar-General’s office finds expression in the right to vote, thereby reducing duplication, eliminating discrepancies, and promoting a clean and up-to-date register of voters.”
