By Lance Guma
01 July 2005

The government has ordered a media black out of a voter registration exercise it began on the 27th June. With the exception of a few untidy and hidden posters, the inspection of the voters roll for upcoming Mayoral and Rural District Council elections has been suppressed by both state print and electronic media. The move has forced the opposition to move door to door and alert people in the various wards about the exercise. Even the act of distributing pamphlets in the country has been outlawed by the police who have arrested activists found doing so in the past.

Our correspondent in Bulawayo Lionel Saungweme reports that even those aware of the process were having a nightmare either registering or finding their names on the roll. In a polling station in Bulawayo on Friday, five MDC youths were denied the chance to register for the mayoral elections for various flimsy excuses. People without homes have to get letters from their landlords confirming their tenancy, but most landlords are not willing to stick their necks out and sign such letters.

One landlord said he was a Jehovah's Witness and would not sign any letter that had a political purpose. While those in the urban areas struggle to register people in the rural areas are finding it easier. Joshua Malinga, a Zanu PF politician, has in the past registered voters at Old Nick Mine who did not even have identity documents. Worries are growing that this is the trend in the rural areas were government spends more in resources advertising voter registration with a view to cleaning up in the rural district council elections.