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registration. AC  Lumumba (ACL) of our station StarFM caught up with Registrar General of Voters, Mr Tobaiwa Mudede (TM) to talk about this and other issues

AC Lumumba: Zimbabwe is definitely going for elections this year, the question is when? Tonight our guest is the Registrar-General Mr Tobaiwa Mudede, the man of the hour when it comes to registration of voters and ensuring that Zimbabweans have the necessary documentation to be able to vote but also responsible to explain to us who is a Zimbabwean who can vote and who cannot vote. Mr Mudede, the voter registration exercise started on the 29th of April, if the President should call for elections before the 29th of June 2013, would your office have finished the registration process of all the voters by then?
Mr Tobaiwa Mudede: Mr Lumumba that is a bit of a difficult question. From January we said we wanted money for voter registration, but we only got the money this past week, and inadequate amounts at that. With adequate funds we would not even sleep as we want to ensure that all eligible voters are registered. Yes we are registering voters but funding is a problem.
AV Lumumba: What then happens if an election is called and you do not have adequate funds for voter registration? Does it mean we would go for elections regardless?
TM: What that will mean is that some eligible voters would be disenfranchised from exercising their right to vote while the registered ones will proceed to vote. But we say yes it’s their right but in the absence of funding there is nothing we can do to get them to exercise that right.
ACL: Is there a comparison between the issue of funding voter registration versus the feasibility of elections by June 29?
TM: Like I said before it is a dicey affair. If we get the money we can discharge our duties effectively but because of inadequate funds we are failing to do our duties properly. For instance we were told we would be given US$8million but only US$4million was released. We never saw the US$8million. This is why we have managed only one mobile unit per district yet the districts are vast and comprise of many wards, our teams are not able to register everyone in such circumstances. There is a lot of work ahead, we need to compile the voters roll, all that can be affected by lack of funding but if we get the money, even today, we can do a lot.

ACL: What are the consequences of not having the money needed to carry out the voter registration exercise that you want to carry out?
TM: What it means is that many people, all those who have just turned 18 and are eligible to vote will not be able to do so along with aliens, those who have one Zimbabwean parent and a foreign one. All these people whom we are giving citizen IDs will not be able to vote. So many people will not be registered and they will not be able to vote.

ACL: Maybe this question should not be directed to you but I will ask it regardless. Assuming you fail to get the funding, and all these people fail to vote, can the elections be considered to be fair, considering that many eligible voters will have failed to participate?
TM: It all depends on how many people we will have registered to vote. Are they above or below what we call the margin of error which is 10 percent? We have 5,7million registered voters, they can drive that election. However, the disappointment of all who will have failed to vote will also weigh heavily on us. Yes the election will proceed but without many eligible voters.

ACL: Mr Mudede, your voter’s roll, we hear plus 277 000 names were removed this year. Almost one million from 1995 to this day, names of dead people. What do you use to determine which names to remove and which names to keep on the roll?
TM: That is the difficult question. Difficult in the sense that many people think that if a voter’s roll has some dead people it is not good. We hear there are ghost voters which implies that the dead leave their graves at night to go and cast their votes. It is mere suspicion. That is why we removed the names of the dead. We looked at a number of things. In 2007 we saw the British voters roll carrying 3,5 million names of dead people, the so-called ghost voters, even the Unites States of America had many such cases, many other countries as well. So it is not just a Zimbabwean scenario. Now from that outcry, in 2010 we carried out an outreach programme. We despatched teams to see kraal heads, relatives of the dead, enquiring on who had died and who lived. We compiled all that information. The relatives signed what we called acknowledgement of death nhaika kuti munin’ina wangu akafa nguva yakati uyu akafa nguva yakati. This is what enabled us to clean the voters roll this year. So we are convinced that our voters roll is clean.

ACL: So those who complain about dead people on the voters roll, it’s just the name on paper but no vote will be cast?
TM: Yes, people will always find something to say. I hope you have understood that point. Shona yedu inoti kana vanhu vashaya chekutaura vanotsvaga chokutaura. There is nothing like that, there is no ghost that can cast a vote. The dead are dead and gone.

ACL: Can a voters’ roll be perfect, if the intelligence is everyone who passes away is removed from the voters’ roll? Everyday someone is passing away even on election day there would be people on the voter’s roll passing away, can a voters’ roll be perfect and if not what margin of error yamunobvumidza kunzi iyi imagine inobvumidzwa pa voters’ roll yenyu?
TM: That’s right, Lumumba, the voters’ roll will never really be free of dead people. Izwi rekuti perfect rechirungu riya, aiwa, hakuna zvakadaro pasi pose nekuti munhu arikungofa. Kana muchida kuti imi voters roll rinzi riri perfect ka hamheno mukarara muchinamata mukapinda pasi pe sea muchinamata kunaMwari kuti ngaparegekufa munhu dzimwe nguva ndozvingatoitika asi hapana zvakadaro.
People die. Some even while waiting in the queue. Some die with only a few days to polling day but we always remove the names. But for a voters roll to really be perfect, that word that they use ‘perfect’, there is nothing like that.
Coming to the margin of error, hamheno kuti vakachinja here handingaziva kana vakachinja hatisati tazviona kuti pane chakachinjwa pa10 percent, 10 percent margin of error zvichireva kuti kana voters’ roll rikaipa ne10 percent harimise ma elections. If you use 10 percent, if you remove that 10 percent what remains? 90 percent right? You then say our voters roll is okay, let’s go for elections. That is the margin of error I know, the one that we use.

ACL: I am very concerned about an issue we began with, nyaya yekuti tikashaya mari tichaona kuchinzi kune vanhu vanonzi vatadza kuvhota kana kupinda pa voters’ roll, it brings me to a conversation, in fact, a case in which this country was involved of fundraising. Kunzi Hurumende yanzi yaitaura nedzimwe hurumende kana kunzi mamwe ma organisation particularly UNDP kuti itipewo mari yekuti tikwanise kuita process iyi. However these talks came to a standstill, it reached an impasse, imimi kwenyu makaramba vaMudede kuti mupihwe mari yema donor, saka zvamaramba mari yema donor murikuirambirei muchiziva kuti munogona kushaya mari yekuti vana varegiste vavote?
TM: VaLumumba ini pfungwa dzangu hadzizivikanwe muno chete. Dzirikuzivikanwa kunyangwe kuAU chaiko. Tine ma resolutions atakaita move isu zvatakati zvinokodzerwa kuti zviitwe. Africa kana ichiramba ichifungidzirwa kuti ichabatsirwa nemadonor kuti iite zvainoda kuti zviitwe, ah, vakakotsira zvavo.  Kurara zvedu. Havauye pachena. Pane zvavanovinga kana vakupai mari yavo kana vati svetuka upinde mugomba rine tsvina wosvetuka wopinda imomo zvakanaka.
Kana waramba kuti kwete handidi, ehe, vanotora mariyavo voenda. Zvavanenge vatanga kuti vaite nemi kuti muite nemi pamwechete mosara mari musina saka naizvozvo isu takati muAfrica, kana kuAU chaiko zvinotozivikanwa tamover maresolutions takati kwete Africa ngaimuke. We have countries that have 50 years, more than 50 years nenyaya ye civil registration yandinoita yandairamba ini kuti tinozviitira zvedu vasina zvavakaita munyika dzavo asi vakabvira kare vachibatsirwa nemadonor vachibatsirwa nemaNGOs saka isisu toda kuti mubvakachire kwedu chete muone satellite nezvimwe zvatakaita zvakadaro system yatakazviitira tega haungagare uchiti mari topihwa nema donor. Chikonzero changu ini ndichocho ichocho.
Asi chandirikutaura ndechekuti takaisa ma resolutions iwaya ekuti Africa ngaizvionere akatambirwa aripo. Tikati isu government dzeAfrica dzinofanirwa kuti dzinofanirwa kuti dzipe mari kune macivil registration systems avo kuti azviitire zvavo. Izvi zvekupota vachinzi tokupai mari zvoipa vanho vobuda.
Inini ndirikushanda. Ndashanda kuti tizviitire zvinhu zvedu tega zvekuti timirirewo vamunoti maNGOs kana kuti ma donor akupei mari kwete. Makuzvionawo mega.

ACL: Mr Mudede let me ask you this, are you against the money or the conditions that come with it? What really are you against? Kuti mari haisi yanyu here kana kuti mari yacho inouya yanemitemo?
TM: You see kuita kwevanhu kunonetsa Lumumba. Isu tinenge tichiti kana tirimuboka rakaita seUN rinenge riine madonor iwawa isu tichibvisawo mari kumapoka iwawa as a member tinokodzerwa kuti tiwanewo mari idzodzo asi ava vanobata mari yacho kunge imari yavo. They tell you to jump because they administer the money, if you do not jump, they will not give you the money. Saka isu hatingamirire kuti hanzi titange tawirirana navo zvinenge zvichiratidza kuti isu hatinasimba nekunenge kuchibva mari yacho.
Pamusana pekunzi isu hatina simba totaurirwa kunzi nhasi uno rega kudya nemukaka nhasi uno rara nenzara nhasi ita zvakati, ah, kwete. We do not want that.
Hatidi! Isu tirikuti isu tirivamwe kana tichibvisa mari, tichiita ma contributions ikoko ngatipihwewo mari yacho tichinzi tinokodzera kupihwa mari yacho iyoyo. Zvino kana taakupihwa tichingonzi isu tangawapfumbata muromo wako urege kufema, ndokuti ndikupe mari yacho iyoyo ngaigare zvayo. Isu tozviitiraka zvinhu zvedu.

ACL: It is being said to register as a voter one needs proof of residence neID yako, pandirikuona pachanetsa chinhu chinonzi proof of residence kune mwana ane 18 years, arikurarama pasi pevabereki vake varikutorojawo anoivalidata sei proof of residence yacho?
TM: That is not difficult if you are a parent you simply say it is your child. If you are a tenant, you and your child should get a written letter from the landlord confirming you stay there. Panezvinhuwo kana muchibhadhara magetsi movapawo tsamba yemagetsi kana muchibhadhara mvura movapawo tsamba yemvura.

ACL: Does it not open room for complications, for example, ndinogara pamba ndinoroja nevana vangu. Imba yandinogara iyi muridzi wayo akaenda kuUK, akaenda kuSouth Africa irikumanejwa neagency saka handina munhu anokwanisa kundinyorera tsamba iyoyi yokuti uyu muroja wangu asi ndini muridzi wemba, who then becomes the guarantor, who then becomes the facilitator kuti ndikwanise kuvhota? Ndakutondovhotera kumusha kwandinokwanisa kutaura kuti sabhuku ndiani?
TM: Chokwadi vaLumumba mataura. Uyu wamunoti agency uyu anemvumowo yekunzi anyore tsamba yekuti munhu uyu ilodger pamba pakati pakati nevana vakati vakati, toti haana kuzviita sekutaura kwamazviita muroja anenge asina kugara chete ipapo anenge achibhadhara magetsi matsamba ose iwaya aenenge achiratidza kubhadhara kana akutiratidza tsamba ndiyoyi iyi yepandinogara, muridzi wemba arikuLondon, agent wake anokwanisa kuti ndipe tsamba idzodzi akaenda kuSouth Africa ndinongove pamba hazviperere ipapa nekuti panoti matsamba emagetsi, nemwamwe matsamba aanotambirawo anonyorwa achisvikira ipapo akanga auya nawo kunevanhu vanoregista ovaratidza kuti ndivo vonoona kuti ndivo kana zvakanganisikawo asina kugutsikana anoenda kumukuru wevanoregista vacho oti ndarambirwa ndiine matsamba acho aya orega kubva angodzokera ah-ah ngaaende kumukuru wacho anotungamira team yedu iya oti ndozvaitika ini matsamba angu aya.
Asika matsamaba acho tinoatora. Asi matsamba acho aya atiri kutaura aya, proof of residence iyi, tanga tichitungamirirwa nenyaya yakaitwa mucourt case no. HC11361 of 2001 ndeyeku High Court iyoyo. Ndiyo nyaya iyoyi yakatorwa Registrar-General naMinister kuCourt ne party yeMDC, pakazobvumiranwa kunzi kwete, isu takatopihwa order yakabva kuCourt yakanga yakanzi Registrar-General anofanirwa kuti aite izvi zvinodikanwa izvi.
Saka matsamba aya, proof of residence yatirikutaura iyi haisikungobva musango iyi, iproof of residence yakabvumirwa neHigh Court yatakapihwa isusu yatinokodzerwa kuti tiitambire. Ndoyatiri kushandisa iyoyi.Sakamunhu haambozviitira zvemusoro wake. Kana achinge aita zvemusoro wake kana ari officer wedu akanganisa, aiwa, nyaya iyoyi yecase iya ndiyo inotungamira kuti izvi tora, izvi tora zvakatonyorwa zvese. Matsamba iwawa atiri kutora

ACL: There is a rumour that when one registers his or her cell phone line the address is written on the form. Can you use that as a proof of residence?
TM: No, the documentation that we require is your national identity card.
Chitupa ndisu tinochigadzira chiri mudatabase mune mazita evanhu vese nezvevanhu kana ndati zvevanhu ndinoreva kuti zvakawanda zviripauri zviri imomo number identity number ndiyo yatinoita pin number yedu. Saka macards anoitwa nevamwe haakwane kupinda apa. Saka tisingaade.