ZEC declines to investigate Zanu-PF voter registration fraud

By Tichaona Sibanda
27 February 2008

The provincial elections officer for Manicaland has declined to institute an investigation into reports that a Zanu-PF legislator has allegedly helped ‘illegal aliens’ to register as voters.

The MDC on Tuesday approached the head of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in Mutare, Colonel Moffat Masabeya, and informed him of reports that Zanu-PF MP for Chipinge south Enock Porusingazi, was involved in voter registration fraud.

It is alleged Porusingazi had on several occasions ferried villagers from Gudu and Save in Mozambique to the district registrar’s offices in Chipinge where he managed to get them identification cards. According to the MDC the volatile Zanu-PF legislator would then proceed to ‘have his people registered as voters.’

‘We have information it’s a syndicate between officials from the registrar’s office and Porusingazi. A number of these illegal aliens were registered well after the deadline but their registration slips were backdated to January,’ said an MDC official.

But Colonel Masabeya said it was not the duty of the ZEC to investigate such reports and told the MDC to take their complaint to the police, who he said deal with fraud cases.

The MDC was not surprised by Masabeya’s response, as he is a known serving officer in the Zimbabwe National Army. Described as a die-hard Zanu-PF man Colonel Masabeya lost in the 2005 primaries to represent the ruling party in the Chimanimani constituency, currently held by State Enterprises and Anti-corruption Minister Samuel Undenge.

Based at Dangamvura’s Chikanga 3 Brigade battalion, Colonel Masabeya was one of the army officers who led an assault team of soldiers on to Charleswood Estate, which they eventually grabbed at gunpoint from Roy Bennett, the former MDC MP for Chimanimani.

‘If we say the election playing field is not level, these are the things we will be referring to,’ the MDC official said.