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Herald Reporter

The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) has been granted an essential service provider status to allow it to prepare an early population census, which will culminate in delimitation of constituencies by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) ahead of the 2023 elections.

Treating Zimstat as an essential service provider is meant to remove possible mobility impediments that might arise for the organisation in carrying out the impending census during the Covid-19 induced national lockdown.

The exemption is contained in a Statutory Instrument in the Government Gazette published by Health and Child Care Minister, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga in terms of the Public Health (Covid-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) (No 2) (Amendment) Order, 2020 (No. 2).

Exempting Zimstat from the Covid-19 national lockdown restrictions will allow the organisation to start preparing for the population census following the signing into law of the Census and Statistics Act by President Mnangagwa last week.

The Act brings the census forward from 2022 to before July next year to give ZEC time to delimit all 210 constituency boundaries for the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections using up-to-date census data as required by the Constitution

In an interview yesterday, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, said the Statutory Instrument would mean that Zimstat could start its work unhindered.

“Yes, that is the objective of the Statutory Instrument. Zimstat has now been included as one of the organisations that provide essential services in terms of the law. What it means is that they should start preparing for the population census whose deadline is that it should end by July 2021. Thereafter, ZEC will start preparing delimitation of constituencies,” said Minister Ziyambi.