The by-elections pencilled for March 26 will be held in line with Covid-19 protocols, the electoral management body, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said Thursday.
Zimbabwe has a total of 133 elective vacancies, which comprise 28 parliamentary seats and 105 council seats emanating from recalls, deaths or dismissals.
Subsequent nomination courts for these vacancies will sit on January 26, 2022, across the country.
Electoral activities were suspended in March 2020 under the guise of the Covid-19 pandemic, which by then had claimed one life in Zimbabwe. They remained banned for the past two years despite calls from political parties, civic society and the diplomatic community for the government to hold the polls.
Speaking during a press conference on the impending min-polls Thursday, ZEC chairperson, Priscilla Chigumba said the by-elections will be held in accordance with the pandemic protocols.
“The pending electoral activities will be conducted in line with ZEC Covid-19 policy which encourages adherence to internationally-agreed Covid-19 protocols,” said Chigumba.
“Among other steps, the commission will ensure sanitisation, masking-up, observing social distancing and ZEC will also administer temperature checks at entry points.”
Zimbabwe has so far recorded a total of 225, 084 Covid-19 cases of which 5, 222 are fatalities with the government having since intensified its vaccination campaigns.
Some citizens have also received booster shots.
