Save Zimbabwe Campaign in New Zealand will stage protest presidential elections on March 29 in Christchurch , Wellington and Auckland . This is the same day, as national elections will be held in Zimbabwe .
‘We are raising the voice of at least 3 million disenfranchised Zimbabweans in the Diaspora’, says Mandla Akhe Dube, general secretary of the Save Zimbabwe campaign and vice chairperson of the Zimbabwe Global Forum. ‘They have as much a right to vote as anyone else in Zimbabwe ’.
Similar protests will be held in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brussels, Botswana and the United States of America*.
Zimbabwe bars all but officials in its embassies from postal voting and yet there are nearly 4 million – most of them in neighboring South Africa- outside Zimbabwe .
About 7 000 Zimbabweans reside in New Zealand .
In Christchurch , polling will begin outside the Anglican Cathedral ( 10am to 5pm ), Wellington ( 3.30pm to 6pm ) Taita Community Centre, 7 Taine Street (Off High Street), Taita, Lower Hutt and Auckland ( 8am to 6pm ) at Inside Africa shops in Botany, North Shore and West
Friends of Zimbabwe will serve as volunteer polling officers and monitors.
Results will be announced at press conferences in the three cities at 6pm before being faxed to the Zimbabwe embassy in Canberra . The Christchurch campaign will then join the Earth Hour.
‘Ironically, the Earth hour just about demonstrates the kind of conditions urban Zimbabweans live in for between 10 and 18 hours a day where there is no electricity available most of the time,’ adds Mandla Akhe Dube.
About 5.6m Zimbabweans are registered for the 29 th March polls. Those who are able will vote for a President, 90 Senators and 210 Members of Parliament as well as local Councilors.
Save Zimbabwe Campaign says that the Diaspora vote cannot be ignored if Zimbabwe is to conform to Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) norms and standards of free and fair elections. All other SADC countries have postal vote provisions for their citizens living abroad.
Post March 29 this challenge to extend the vote to the Diaspora will be placed before the newly elected parliament of Zimbabwe , which is expected to prioritize constitutional reforms.
Save Zimbabwe also appeals to New Zealand media to seek accreditation to cover the elections.
The Campaign prays for peace before, during and after elections.
* USA based Zimbabweans held their protest vote on the 16 th February outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in Washington .
For more information and a sample of the presidential ballot paper to be used :
1. Auckland : Adams Makope, 021 027 24797
2. Wellington : Driden Kunaka, (04) 439 7595; 021 0466 814,
3. Christchurch : Mandla Akhe Dube, 03. 366 9274 Ext 113; 021 348 288;
savezimbabwe@slingshot.co.nz