ZESN fails to pay election observers

Masvingo Bureau
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network has failed to pay scores of people it hired to observe elections in Masvingo during the July 31 harmonised elections with reports that the organisation was punishing them for “allowing” a clean sweep by Zanu-PF in the province.
The organisation was funded to the tune of US$5million by hostile western governments ahead of the harmonised elections and dutifully produced a damning report, the only organisation to do so out of all observers.

Some of the unpaid people who were hired as polling observers, constituency observers and supervisors yesterday said they had been trying in vain to push ZESN to pay them their dues for the past four weeks in vain.

They alleged that ZESN owed them amounts ranging from US$100 to US$450 per person to cover for between one to three days they were at work as observers during the polls.

Mr Cephas Muduma who was a Zesn observer at a polling station in Bikita East blasted the organisation for being insensitive to the plight of people it had hired saying he had made numerous trips to Masvingo ZESN offices for his money to no avail.

“They promised us a lot in terms of payment but nothing has been paid up to now. We hear others have been paid and I do not know why I am yet to be paid. They should just pay me what I worked for,’’ said Mr Muduma.

Some of the affected people claimed that the ZESN leadership in Masvingo openly told them to forget about payment accusing them of sleeping on the wheel at their various centres thereby “allowing” Zanu-PF to win.

ZESN director Mrs Rindai Chipfunde-Vava downplayed the non payment and said the payment of election observers was ongoing.
“Payment of observers is ongoing and in fact we have already finished paying people in some provinces and if those people who are claiming not to have been paid are genuine and are accredited ZESN observers, they should approach our offices in Masvingo and get paid instead of going to the media,’’ she said.

Another poll observer who was based in Gutu but declined identification claimed that repeated efforts to have his money paid had proved fruitless over the past four weeks.

“I have not been paid up to now and I was openly told in the face at the ZESN offices in Masvingo that no money was going to be released because we ‘allowed’ Zanu-PF to rig elections while we watched. What makes me sad is that I did my job to the best of my ability and I just reported what exactly had happened at my station,’’ said the observer.

Another unpaid constituency supervisor who was based in Mwenezi accused a Zesn provincial co-ordinator of paying only female observers close to him while leaving out their male counterparts.

“We feel there is something terribly wrong at ZESN Masvingo offices because some of our fellow observers, especially females, were paid all their money but they are refusing to give us our dues,’’ he said.

But Mrs Chipfunde-Vava dismissed the assertion and said: “The sex of the person does not determine how or when we pay those that we owe.”