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Ivan Zhakata-Herald Correspondent

LOBBY group, Progressive and Patriotic Citizens of Zimbabwe (PAPCOZ), is critical about recalled CCC Members of Parliament being able to have nominations accepted for the resulting by-elections under the ticket of the same CCC party that threw them out in the first place, as this is likely to simply lead to another round of recalls. 

PAPCOZ has called on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to exercise due diligence in anticipation of the ongoing power wrangles in the opposition party. 

ZEC has already accepted nominations for the batch of by-elections to be held on Saturday which were triggered by the recalls in October, and now there is another batch of six by-elections for February 3 next year after a set of recalls by the CCC interim secretary-general of Mr Sengezo Tshabangu on November 10. 

Once the Speaker of the National Assembly is informed of a recall he has to declare the seat vacant and once the President is formally informed a constituency seat is vacant, he has to order a by-election within tight time limits. 

PAPCOZ national chairman Mr Patson Murimoga said they were concerned that one of the recalled CCC legislators, former Mabvuku-Tafara MP, Mr Phibion Munyaradzi Kafuhakutizwe, was allowed to file his nomination papers on November 7 under the same CCC ticket he was recalled under.

“Elections are funded by taxpayers and lack of due diligence in these by-elections might lead to a repeat of recalls again over disputes in the ambiguously-confused opposition outfit that CCC has turned into,” he said.

“We surely cannot expect them to be organised when they have shown this much confusion thus far. ZEC being the body in charge of elections must ensure this redundancy is stopped.

“As PAPCOZ we also call upon the leadership of CCC to respect Zimbabwean taxpayers and show a good understanding of the technicalities of a recall. It is unfashionable for a party full of lawyers to be ignorant of the meaning of no longer being a member.”

PAPCOZ has also called upon Parliament to set some basic rules for what a political party must have before it can sponsor candidates. 

“Under the ongoing reforms in policies, we highly recommend reforms in the Electoral Act,” Mr Murimoga said.

“A mob can masquerade as a political party and double candidature is the norm under the current Electoral Act. Parliament can put an end to this madness and bring back sanity to elections which are slowly turning into a popularity contest.

“The State is not a tuckshop. Even burial committees have a sense of accountability through structures and sets of rules. Lawmakers should practice lawmaking in the parties they come from.”

In June, ZEC estimated that the administrative cost of the 2023 August harmonised elections to be $102 billion.