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Cde Jaboon

George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
The Zanu-PF leadership here has expressed concern over the pace at which people have been registering to vote under the newly-introduced Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) system in Mwenezi and Chiredzi districts. The two districts, arguably the biggest in Masvingo in terms of land area and population, have some areas that are not easily accessible because of poor road and communication network.

The party’s provincial political commissar Cde Jappy Jaboon said Zanu-PF was not satisfied with the pace at which people were being registered in Mwenezi and Chiredzi. Cde Jaboon, who was speaking after the party’s provincial co-ordinating committee meeting at the weekend, urged the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to increase its efforts in registering people in the districts.

“We are not happy with the pace at which people are being registered under the new BVR system, particularly in Chiredzi and Mwenezi where we have received reports that the registration process is very slow,” he said.

Cde Jaboon appealed for more teams and BVR kits to be deployed in the two districts, so that people in remote parts of the districts did not travel long distances to register.

“Mwenezi and Chiredzi are very big districts and we expect more teams to be deployed for the registration process while efforts are put for more information on the designated registration centres,” he said.

Cde Jaboon said the ruling party was pulling all stops to make sure that its members registered to vote and make sure Zanu-PF recorded an emphatic victory in next year’s polls. ZEC Masvingo provincial elections officer Mr Zex Pudurai downplayed reports of the challenges in Mwenezi and Chiredzi.

He said the process was proceeding well.

“I think they must tell us specific areas where there are challenges so that we can investigate, but at the moment there are no reports of challenges anywhere in Masvingo,” said Mr Pudurai.

Zanu-PF last month launched a provincial campaign to encourage its members and other people to register to vote under the BVR system.