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Fungi Kwaramba-Political Editor

President Mnangagwa yesterday sworn-in commissioners for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and the Zimbabwe Land Commission (ZLC) — two vital institutions in the conduct of electoral processes and land production.

The swearing-in of the commissioners at the State House also saw Mr Sibangumuzi Sixtone Khumalo being sworn-in as Minister of State in Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s Office.

A retired judge, Justice November Tafuma Mtshiya was also appointed to head a neutral tribunal that will probe the conduct of Justice Thompson James Mabhikwa who is facing charges of misconduct, sexual harassment, and possessing pornographic material.

Ms Tendai Ruth Walker Berea was sworn in as the Chairperson of ZLC and she will be deputised by Mr Abdul Gabriel Credit Nyathi, with Ms Lauretta Marembo and Phillip Sawera as the other commissioners.

Mr Rodney Simukai Kiwa and Mr Jasper Mangwana were sworn in as Commissioners for ZEC with their work cut out as they are expected to join other commissioners in preparing for the country’s elections and a delimitation exercise among other constitutional mandates.

In an interview, Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the appointments of the commissioners are a demonstration that the President is a stickler to constitutionalism.

“We had two sets of commissioners that were appointed in terms of those that deal with the commission to investigate honourable Justice Mabhikwa and we also had commissioners to fill in vacancies within the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission as well as the Zimbabwe Land Commission.

“What is means is that we want the work of the commissions to carry on, as you are aware there is a lot of work that ZEC must undertake, we have a delimitation exercise that has to be done, we have by-elections that have to be done, we have voter registration and voter education, so they must hit the ground running because there is a lot of work to be done. 

“We lost a lot of time because of Covid-19 but now because of the relaxation some of the work has to be done and we also have Justice Mabhikwa, his case has to be completed, we appointed a new person to deal with it,” said Cde Ziyambi.

On the Land Commission, Minister Ziyambi said there are still some outstanding issues that have to be dealt with so that the nation moves on to full throttle agriculture production and productivity hence the newly appointed commissioners should hit the ground running.

“We need to resolve disputes in order to ensure that we move on, basically that is why you saw His Excellency undertaking that exercise so that vacancies are filled.

On her part, ZLC chairperson Walker Berea said the most important issue is to finish the land audit.

“We want to decentralise our dispute resolution offices to the districts so that we reduce the backlog of disputes that we have. 

“We also want to develop a land management system that will make it easier for our Minister to make policies and strategies and monitor and evaluate the performance of resettled farmers on a real-time basis,” she said.