daniel chigunwe
Mutsawashe Mashandure
Herald Correspondent
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has invited applications for accreditation from a range of registered non-governmental organisations and churches made up of citizens, or residents of Zimbabwe wishing to conduct voter education ahead of upcoming harmonised elections.
The organisations need to use approved materials, and may not favour any political party in their education work and may not charge any fees.
The education work is intended to strengthen democratic processes, rather than campaign for a particular party or make money.
In a statement, ZEC acting chief elections officer Mr Simbarashe Tongayi said aspiring voter educators, including those who have been accredited before, should apply through ZEC head office on or before May 19.
“The commission is inviting civic society organisations, private voluntary organisations and faith-based organisations, including those that were authorised to conduct voter education before May 11 to submit new applications for accreditation by the commission as voter educators,” Mr Tongayi said.
Requirements include certificate of registration, comprehensive organisation profile, including board members and general membership, telephone numbers, constitution, mandate and any other details.
Mr Tongayi said civic society and private voluntary organisations must consist wholly or mainly citizens or permanent residents of Zimbabwe domiciled in the country as stipulated in section 40c of the Electoral Act and must be registered as a private voluntary organisation in terms of the Private Voluntary Organisations Act or registered in the Deeds Registry as a trust.
“The organisation must be mandated by its constitution or trust deed, as the case may be, to provide voter education; and must employ individuals who are citizens or permanent residents of Zimbabwe to conduct any voter education; for this the organisation can furnish the commission with all the names, addresses, citizenship or residence status and qualifications of the individuals who will conduct voter education; and must disclose the manner and sources of funding of its proposed voter education activities; the voter education,” he said.
Speaking on the eligibility criteria for faith-based organisations, Mr Tongayi said they must also be guided by section 40c of the Zimbabwe Electoral Act, that is being Zimbabwean and using Zimbabwean educators.
“Voter education must be conducted in accordance with a course or programme of instruction furnished or approved by the commission; and the voter education materials to be used and the course or programme of instruction in accordance with which the voter education is conducted must be adequate, current, gender sensitive, correct and not misleading or biased in favour of any political party; and the voter education materials to be used and the course or programme of instruction in accordance with which the voter education is conducted must be furnished to the commission for its scrutiny. No fee or charge shall be levied for the provision of voter education or voter education materials,” he said.
The need to vet organisations that conduct voter education came in the wake of some groups that had been campaigning for some political parties under the guise of voter education. The Electoral Act gives ZEC power to vet organisations and assess their material before they are disseminated to the public.
The commission is mandated to monitor all the activities of the organisations given the nod to perform the task of voter education, as well as the materials that they would be using during the campaigns.
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