Online Reporter
Freeman Razemba-Senior Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission yesterday met senior management at the Zimbabwe Newspapers Group in Harare to explore possible areas of collaboration as the electoral body seeks to strengthen information dissemination and voter education.
The ZEC delegation was led by Chief Elections Officer Mr Simbarashe Tongayi and included Deputy Chief Elections Officer (Operations) Mr Thompson Chiwereweshe, Director of Finance Mr Albert Chibaya and Director of Public Relations Mr Justin Manyau.
Following the meeting, the delegation toured the country’s largest diversified media house, accompanied by Zimpapers Group Chief Executive Mr William Chikoto and senior management.
Speaking after the engagement, Mr Chiwereweshe said ZEC had identified several Zimpapers platforms that could support its work, particularly in voter registration and voter education.
“We appreciate the opportunity to meet the Zimpapers team. We learnt a lot from this engagement,” he said.
“There are a number of platforms that we can leverage as the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, especially in the area of voter registration.
“We are looking forward to further engagements so that we can take advantage of these opportunities. There are a number of platforms that we observed and can utilise in terms of the work that we do.”
Mr Chiwereweshe said voter education was one of ZEC’s key mandates and that partnerships with media organisations was critical in ensuring information reaches citizens across the country.
In his remarks, Mr Chikoto said the meeting had provided an opportunity for both organisations to discuss areas of co-operation.
“We were privileged to receive the Chief Elections Officer of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and his team, who came to explore opportunities to partner with Zimpapers.
“We were able to explain to them the different platforms that we have and how we can assist ZEC in terms of voter education and any other information that needs to be conveyed during the electoral cycle.
“We were also able to show them our digital-first approach and that we now have global audiences. Whatever message they have, we can get it to wherever they want it to reach, whether through radio, television or newspapers.”
Mr Chikoto added that they were able to explain to ZEC that Zimpapers has a public mandate to provide editorial coverage during elections, including by-elections, and that the media group was at ZEC’s disposal.
He said there were also opportunities for commercial co-operation that the two organisations could explore.
The meeting comes as Zimpapers continues to strengthen its digital-first strategy following the launch of its integrated newsroom in November last year.
The transformation marked another milestone in the company’s evolution from a print-focused publisher into a diversified multimedia organisation with a presence in newspapers, radio, television and digital media.
Zimpapers operates radio stations including Star FM, Diamond FM, Capitalk 100.4 FM and Platinum FM, in addition to the Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN).
The integrated newsroom operates as a content hub, producing material for online, radio, television and print platforms, ensuring consistent messaging across all channels while meeting the growing demand for digital content.
